


Chase the Neon Throne

by WhatWouldJackSparrowDo



Series: Let the Human In [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF!Suki, BAMF!Ty Lee, BAMF!Zuko, Bounty Hunter!Zuko, Drama, Eating Disorders, F/F, F/M, Freedom Fighter!Zuko, Friendship, Gaang (Avatar) as Family, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Interrogation, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Malnutrition, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective!Jet, Protective!Ty Lee, Recovery, Secret Identity, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Tea Shop Owner!Zuko, Torture, Unhealthy Relationships, Victim Blaming, Whump, Women Being Awesome, Zuko Angst, Zuko Gets a Hug, Zuko Needs a Hug, Zuko has Trust Issues, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, poor Zuko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-06-25 15:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 82,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15643968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatWouldJackSparrowDo/pseuds/WhatWouldJackSparrowDo
Summary: Ursa and Ozai frame a servant for Azulon's death. Three years later, when Zuko is banished, Ursa leaves with him. It can't be a coincidence that just months after the Fire Lord's wife humiliates him so thoroughly, she is found bleeding out in a dark alley. However, before she dies, she has something very important to tell her son.Armed only with a gift from his uncle, a pair of swords, a mask, and the knowledge that he is Avatar Roku's great-grandson, Zuko struggles to survive on his own with no future. That is, until the Avatar returns, along with a sliver of hope for the banished prince. One way or another, Avatar Aang is Zuko's only chance to have a home or a family.





	1. Another Reason to Bleed

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Human by Of Monsters and Men. This particular chapter's title is from All My Life by Foo Fighters, which I definitely recommend listening to because a) it really sets the tone for this chapter and b) it's a great song. Sorry about all the OCs. I swear the rest of the story won't be like this chapter. I hate using OCs and try to use as few of them as possible but in this first chapter it seemed necessary.

#### Act 1: The Bounty Hunter

#### Chapter 1: Another Reason to Bleed

A man with a scar on his face snuck down a dock in the dead of night to where another man awaited him beside a boat. “I’ve got what you asked for,” the first man whispered, passing a small but heavy sack over.

The second man accepted the sack and peered inside. When he looked up, he was grinning wolfishly. “Excellent. Come aboard, Mr. Hao.” The two of them stepped inside the boat, the first looking relieved and giddy. Unbeknownst to them, they had an audience of one on a nearby roof. Zuko quickly climbed down the side of the building furthest from them and ran towards the boat as it began to leave. He withdrew a pair of swords from their sheathes, leapt at the boat, and plunged his swords into the side. Careful to be as silent as possible, he used his swords to creep along the side of the boat, pausing at each of the windows to listen for voices. Finally, he settled below a window to an occupied room.

“…not as much as I’d hoped.” The voice was unfamiliar, presumably belonging to a third man. He spoke dangerously, with the air of someone who had too much power and too little self-control. Zuko should know. He’d spent his childhood in fear of a voice just like it. “You’re sure this was everything they had?”

“Positive, Mr. Chuong, sir,” Hao replied nervously.

“Then you won’t mind if one of my guards pats you down, hmm?” Chuong didn’t wait for an answer. “Shaoshir, if you would.”

“Of course, sir.” Zuko tensed. If Hao was hiding any of the jewels he’d stolen on his person, it might complicate his current mission. Luckily, the next thing he heard was, “All clear, sir.”

“Very well. My apologies for doubting your word, Hao, but in this line of work you can never be too careful. I’m sure you understand.”

“Absolutely.”

“Munu, please see Hao to his lodgings. We should reach our destination by tomorrow morning.”

Zuko heard a door open and close, and listened closely for voices, but heard none. He carefully weighed his options. Most likely, Munu and Hao were no longer in the room, but a man like Chuong would definitely have at least one guard with him at all times, probably two or three. On the other hand, the boat wasn’t so big since it was primarily used for illicit dealings. There couldn’t be room for more than six or seven passengers, and that included Munu, Hao, Chuong, and a captain. Munu and Hao had just left, and the captain would be on the bridge unless he had a message for Chuong, which, given the silence, he evidently did not. Zuko could strike now while it was almost certainly no more than four people in the room, or he could wait and hope more of them left before anyone new showed up. The choice was obvious, but Zuko was not a patient person. Tightly gripping the hilts of his broadswords, Zuko pushed himself into the air, kicked through the window, and jumped into the room, yanking his swords out of the boat wall as he landed.

“The Blue Spirit!” one guard screamed. Zuko smirked behind his mask. He never got sick of hearing people shout his alias in terror. He quickly took stock of the room – one man at a desk and two men at the only door – and lunged for the man at the desk. The guard who’d screamed flinched backwards as he moved, but the other darted between him and the desk. Zuko ducked beneath the swipe of their blade and tumbled through their legs, knocking them over as he shot upright behind them.

With nothing between him and his goal, he pulled the man at the desk to his feet and crossed his swords on the other side of the man’s neck. “Chuong?” he hissed.

“Yes,” the man confirmed, and Zuko had to admit he sounded impressively composed. Too bad he could feel Chuong shaking. “Your reputation precedes you, Blue Spirit, but I’m not sure what I did to warrant your presence on my boat. I am not a wanted man.”

“No, but you did pay a wanted man to commit a crime in your name, did you not? I doubt the authorities would be displeased if I brought you and your stolen goods in.”

“How much will they pay you?” Chuong asked, some of his nervousness beginning to seep into his voice. “Five gold pieces? Six? With just three of the jewels Hao stole, I guarantee you could make at least twelve gold. I could be persuaded to part with so many.”

He couldn’t deny that it was a tempting deal, but given how easily Zuko had caught him, if he let him go, Chuong would be caught sooner or later anyway, and Zuko wasn’t in the mood to become a wanted criminal even with the mask on. Besides, he didn’t have enough honor left to spend on negotiations with petty criminals. “Not interested. If you want to live, you’ll come with me to the bridge and tell your captain to turn the boat around, and then you’ll pack up the jewels and hand them over to me along with Hao.”

Chuong sighed heavily. “I suppose I have no choice. Guards, let us through.”

The guards stepped aside, and Zuko allowed Chuong to lead him to the bridge. “Captain, there is a slight problem. I must ask you to return to the dock.”

“Why - ?” The captain turned around, took one look at them, and paled. “Yes, sir.”

Next, Chuong led him back to his own lodgings, where Zuko instructed the guards to stay within his line of sight as Chuong placed twelve jewels in a sack. Finally they approached the dock. Chuong tied the sack to Zuko’s belt, and the guards held Hao down while Chuong tied his wrists up. Zuko released him and swiftly evacuated the vessel, throwing Hao over his shoulder. He took a millisecond to look at Chuong and commit his features to his memory before making a run for it. “Please don’t do this,” Hao begged, practically on the verge of tears. “I was – I was going to donate it all! I swear I was!”

“Save it for someone who cares,” Zuko grunted.

“Have a heart, Mr. Blue Spirit,” Hao wailed. “Children will go hungry without the money from these jewels – “

“If you were such a good person, maybe you wouldn’t have murdered two innocent people to get to these jewels.”

Hao fell silent.

They arrived at the town authorities’ headquarters close to dawn, and Zuko triumphantly dropped Hao in the doorway. “Blue!” one guard cheered, a woman named Wishi. “The night shift told me you’d stopped by, but I knew you wouldn’t leave without saying hello. And look! You brought me presents!” She winked at him. “So polite.” She rose from her desk and lifted Hao to his feet. “Hao, you are under arrest for the murder of Raonoh and Lang.” She dragged him over to a jail cell.

Zuko untied the sack of jewels and handed it to her. “Wishi, could we discuss the case in private? I discovered some delicate information that you may find useful.”

Wishi nodded seriously as she took the jewels from him. “Of course. Paoshu, could you take the jewels to the back and send for the daughter, Haki?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She passed the bag on to another guard and escorted Zuko to her office. “What happened?” she asked.

“I’ve got an anonymous tip on Chuong.”

“What?!”

Zuko grinned under his mask at the open jubilation on her face. “He hired Hao to get the jewels in exchange for an illegal trip – where to, I’m not sure, but I am sure Hao will tell you if you… persuade him.”

“So Chuong confessed?” Wishi pressed.

“Even better. He confessed, and then he tried to bribe me into letting him keep the jewels.”

“Did you see his face?”

“Of course.” She set a scroll, a quill, and ink on the table. “Narrow eyes, round nose, thin lips, short chin, heart-shaped face, and a nasty-looking scar across his right cheek.”

She scribbled vigorously as he spoke, and when he finished, she looked up at him with the widest smile he’d ever seen on her face. “Finally. Finally we can start putting up wanted posters with an actual face on them! Blue, thank you so much for this. I don’t know how I can repay you.”

“Well, you can give me Hao’s bounty.”

She laughed good-naturedly and retrieved three gold pieces from a jar on the desk. “I wish I could give you more, but unfortunately, anonymous tips don’t get rewarded.”

Zuko shrugged, accepting the gold with a bittersweet grimace as he remembered Chuong’s offer. “I’ll be okay, Wishi. By the way, I have two more names for you – Shaoshir and Munu. I believe they work for Chuong as his guards. There was a third man, but I didn’t catch his name, and I didn’t get a good look at any of them.”

“You’ve done more than enough, Blue,” Wishi insisted.

They stood up and exited the office. A red-eyed young woman rushed towards Blue. “Thank you for catching him.”

Zuko frowned. “Haki, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

She looked so young, Zuko could hardly believe she was a year older than him. Then again, he’d lost both of his parents almost three years ago, albeit in very different ways, and she was only just losing hers now. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Haki.”

“I’m just glad my parents’ murderer will face justice,” she replied, but her heart wasn’t in it. Zuko almost asked if she had anyone to help her adjust to life without Raonoh and Lang, but decided against it. There was no point. Regardless of her answer, he didn’t have time to babysit. Instead, he gave her a short nod and strode out of the building.

 

 

Zuko rode his ostrich horse to the nearest marketplace. As he tied it up and went in search of food, he was surprised by the lack of awed and frightened glances that his mask usually earned him in public. Everyone was whispering, but not, seemingly, about him. “What’s got everyone so talkative today?” he asked a fish merchant as he examined the merchandise.

The merchant scowled. “The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island.”

A trout slipped from Zuko’s grasp as his heart pounded in his ears. “What did you say?”

“The Avatar,” the merchant repeated, looking thoroughly disgruntled. “He’s back. And he’s on Kyoshi.”

For a split second Zuko wondered how he could sound so unenthusiastic about the Avatar’s return, but then he remembered that he was in Chin Village, possibly the only place in the Earth Kingdom where the civilians would rather the Avatar didn’t return. “Huh,” he said numbly.

“Are you gonna buy something or what?” the merchant grumbled at him, and Zuko realized he’d been standing there doing nothing a bit too long. He picked up two trout and held them up in response. “That’ll be two silver pieces.”

Zuko reached into his pouch and pulled the money out. As he wandered through the merchants collecting some fruit and a few bags of feed, he tried to come to terms with this new information. The Avatar was back. To be honest, he hadn’t thought the Avatar was ever coming back. Though he’d hoped beyond hope, had dreamt of it almost every night, had thought about it more than anything else, at some point he’d finally registered that he was never going home. But if the Avatar was alive, then there was hope – real hope.

He had to get to Kyoshi Island.

 

 

The next day, Zuko went to sea with his boat, a boat much smaller than Chuong’s, with just enough room for himself, his ostrich horse, and hopefully a bound Avatar. He paddled his way to the edge of the forest, hoping to be spotted by as few people as possible. The people of this village had been very suspicious of him thanks to his reluctance to remove his mask when he’d visited on-the-job two and a half years ago, and besides, the arrival of a bounty hunter so soon after the arrival of the Avatar was certain to be treated with suspicion. He and his pet left the boat, and he quickly finished off the food he’d purchased the day before, giving the ostrich horse a bit of feed as before tying him to the same tree he’d tied the boat to. He’d be back before the end of the night.

Before then, however, he had to capture the Avatar. He wouldn’t have a lot of time; Kyoshi Island was small, and someone would certainly stumble upon him if he lingered. The Kyoshi Warriors would probably protect this new Avatar with their lives in honor of their namesake, so unless he wanted casualties, he had to catch the new Avatar alone. Somehow. Zuko resisted the urge to bang his head against a tree. He was closer to going home than ever before, and yet in some ways he felt no closer than he had been the day before. Sure, he knew the general location of the Avatar, but he had no way of getting a more specific location, no way of catching him alone, and no way of capturing him.

 _I just have to treat this like a normal case_ , he decided. That was easier said than done, though, because normally he would ask the authorities for more information first, and for once the authorities weren’t on his side, because he was capturing the Avatar, not a wanted criminal with a bounty on their head. Then again, the Avatar wouldn’t be hiding, either. He was a hero to this village. Everyone would probably know where he was. The only question was how to get them to tell _him_. With a sigh, he reluctantly removed his mask. He would have to question them without his mask, as a random person who happened to be passing through. He always felt terribly vulnerable when he had to remove it for one reason or another, but it would be worth it to finally capture the Avatar and regain his honor and his home.

Zuko made his way to the nearest dock and went from there to the town so as to look less suspicious. Once there, it was pretty easy to tell where the Avatar was; he followed the sounds of vapid giggling to a throng of young girls. At their core was a young boy clad in bright yellow and orange, and even more noticeably, holding his hands out before him as a series of marbles chased each other in a circle between them, touching nothing but the air around them. Zuko froze, staring at the boy. He could hardly be more than a preteen, yet he was most certainly using airbending, and Zuko could think of no one other than the Avatar who might be capable of that. He was struck by the sudden, violent urge to take the Avatar then and there, but quickly silenced it. He had waited three years for his chance. He could wait a few more hours.

After allowing himself a few seconds to take in everything he saw that could be of use, he busied himself with a nearby merchant. He’d used up the last of his food that day, and with any luck, he’d need enough to last him a few weeks’ travel – he didn’t plan on letting the Avatar out of his sight until they got to the Fire Nation, and he didn’t plan on letting him off the boat either, which meant he would be confining himself as well and no shopping would get done. Crescent Island would be the best place to take him; of everyone who could take him and the Avatar to the Fire Lord, the Fire Sages were the best choice, as they were honorable and the least likely to try and take credit for the capture from him. Crescent Island was pretty close, too, only a week’s travel.

The merchant he’d stopped at smiled kindly. “We don’t often get strangers out here,” she commented. “You here to see the Avatar?”

Zuko nodded. “When I heard he was back, I… wanted to see for myself. I can hardly believe it.” He hesitated. “He’s so… _young_ ,” he pressed, hoping she would give him more information if prompted.

He was rewarded. “Yes, he is, poor dear.” She frowned. “Only twelve, but he’s so polite, so nice. He has no idea about the war, either.” Zuko’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “This world is going to chew him up and spit him out.” Zuko glanced back at him. The Avatar had a large grin on his face, clearly pleased with the attention he was receiving. She was absolutely right, and Zuko was part of the reason why. But he hadn’t survived as long as he had by giving in to his guilt. “Anyway, what are you looking for?” Zuko jerked his attention back to her and selected enough fish to last him and the Avatar a week and a half, just to be safe. “You got a long trip ahead of you, or a large family to feed?”

“Trip,” he replied quietly. He paid for the fish and went on to purchase some fruit and an extra bag of feed. He took a quick look at his money pouch and inwardly cursed. He didn’t have much left. If something happened and they ran out of food before they reached their destination, he may very well need to stop to take on another hunting job, or else resort to theft. When he was first banished he’d had an easy time stealing from others because it was for his mother, too, and because as Fire Nation royalty he’d felt somewhat entitled. The past three years had thoroughly humbled him, however, especially when his mother had died. Now, he would do almost anything to avoid stealing again.

As he shopped, he kept an eye on the Avatar, taking care not to stray too far from him. Though the Avatar himself didn’t seem too worried about his surroundings, a closer look revealed one of the Kyoshi Warriors watching him from the shadows. It was difficult to tell through the makeup, but Zuko thought he might recognize her as Suki, a Warrior who had been incredibly aggressive in his dislike for him two and a half years ago. She couldn’t possible recognize him without his mask, but he felt himself instinctively shying from going near her regardless. If he were being honest, she scared him a little. It was rare to find a fighter half as good as him, with his expert training, even in adults, let alone a girl one year younger. He would rather not find out how much she’d improved in his absence.

Once he’d finished shopping, he made small talk with a few of the merchants about the state of the war and the local goings-on. The latter was a boring topic, which was typical of such a small village, but it was an easy enough excuse to keep the Avatar within his line of sight. Finally, the girls began complaining of boredom, and the Avatar quickly appeased them. “I’ve got something else to show you!” he chirped. Zuko cringed at the cheerful innocence in his voice. “Come on, this way!” He pocketed the marbles and began to walk away.

The Kyoshi Warrior stepped out of the shadows. Whether she really was Suki or not, he had to do something to prevent her from following the Avatar. He approached a crowded vendor and slipped an apple into his pocket – there weren’t any apple trees on Kyoshi, which made apples a more valuable commodity whose absence was more likely to be noticed. Then he planted the apple in someone else’s basket and, after a few seconds of steeling himself, approached the Kyoshi Warrior. “Excuse me, ma’am?”

She paused in her calm pursuit of the Avatar and his fangirls. “Yes?”

“I’m, uh,” he scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly at her, “not from around here, but the Kyoshi Warriors are the guards, right?”

Her gaze sharpened. “Yes, we do. Why? Did you see suspicious activity?”

 _Yep, that’s Suki._ Zuko resisted the irrational urge to back away. “Well, I’m not – I’m not sure, but I think I might have seen someone back there steal an apple…. Sorry, I guess that’s a silly reason to bother you. It’s just fruit.”

“Apples are rare here on Kyoshi Island, so that isn’t so silly. Who was it?” Zuko gestured to the man. “Okay. Thank you for informing me. I’ll take care of it.”

Zuko nodded and backed away to watch her from a distance out of the corner of his eye while he busied himself with browsing a nearby stall. She hesitated, looking around, probably for another Kyoshi Warrior, and when there were none she bounded towards the rapidly disappearing Avatar to have a quick word with him before approaching the man. She had probably asked him where he was going so she could find him later, which meant he had a very limited time frame in which to retrieve his mask and apprehend the Avatar. He silently followed the Avatar’s entourage from a distance until they reached a beach, which was obviously the destination. From there, he swiftly headed towards the dock, then veered off-course partway there and made his way back to his boat, where he fed his ostrich horse again and equipped his mask and swords. Then he crept back into the woods in the direction of the beach.

As he crept nearer, he watched in disbelief as what looked like the last of the fangirls trailed down the path back to town as the Avatar swam sullenly through the water back to the beach. Zuko’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Zuko waited patiently in the woods as the Avatar returned to shore, and as he made his way to the path Zuko struck, pinning two swords to his neck just as he’d done with Chuong. To his credit, the Avatar didn’t react, other than a small inhalation and tensing muscles. “Not a sound, Avatar,” he whispered, and felt more than saw the boy give a slight nod, seeming to deflate. “You’re coming with me.”

He led the Avatar back to his boat, then removed one of the swords to pull his rope out of a satchel on the ground. He knelt slowly, careful to give the Avatar just enough room for him to kneel as well without him getting cut on the sword or escaping from it. He pushed the Avatar forward with his free hand, and slid the sword out from under him as he hit the floor. Then he pressed him down with one foot while tying his hands up. Finally, he sat back, and let him sit up. The absolute misery in the boy’s eyes made his heart constrict. “Sorry,” Zuko said, and the word sounded so hollow that he didn’t even know where to begin embellishing. “I – I don’t want to do this. It’s not your fault that you’re the Avatar. You don’t deserve this. I heard in town that you don’t even know the first thing about the war.”

“No, not really,” the boy admitted. “I – I guess I sort of… slept through the past hundred years. I woke up in an iceberg a few weeks ago.”

“An iceberg.”

He cracked a grin, somehow finding a way to be amused despite his desperate situation. “A couple of teenagers in the Southern Water Tribe found me and broke me out.”

“The Water Tribe?” Zuko frowned. “Where are they now? Are they here on the island with you?”

“Nah.” The grin faded a little. “They – I – I put their tribe in danger. So. They. Kicked me out.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped. “But you’re just a kid.”

“Well, they were too, really. And there are a lot of kids who are a lot younger than me in their tribe. They have to look after their own. I understand. Only one of them kicked me out. The other wanted to come with me to the Northern Water Tribe, but I told her to stay. It’s safer for her there.”

“So…, who are you here with?” Zuko asked, dreading the answer.

“Oh. Uh. No one. Suki, I guess. She’s one of the Kyoshi Warriors. She’s really nice. I mean, it’s probably only because I’m the Avatar, but I still appreciate it.”

“If it’s any – “ Zuko stopped just short of the word ‘consolation.’ Nothing could possibly be any consolation to this poor kid. “I know what you mean, about people liking you for something someone else did. Where I come from, I was pretty important to people, but it was because of who my father was, not because of me.”

“I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed, then.” The boy smiled suddenly. “By the way, I’m Aang.”

“…Oh.” Zuko stared dumbly for a few seconds, caught off-guard, before composing himself. “Most call me the Blue Spirit.”

“Nice to meet you, Blue Spirit. Can I call you Blue? ‘Blue Spirit’ is a bit of a mouthful, and it feels oddly formal, y’know?”

“Blue is fine,” Zuko answered.

Aang smiled wider. He seemed oddly determined to make friends for someone who was tied up on a boat to be delivered to someone who would probably keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life. “So I guess you’re from the Fire Nation, huh?”

“Not really,” he replied honestly. He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair. “This isn’t even _about_ the stupid war. I just want to go home. And I can’t – well, I’m not allowed to go home unless I capture you.”

“Oh!” Aang tilted his head at him. “So your… your family sent you to capture me? Wow, that was fast.”

Zuko shook his head. “I’ve been looking for you for three years.”

Aang’s jaw dropped. “Wait. You haven’t been home in _three years_? And you’ve been _looking for me_ for three years? But I only just got out of that iceberg! I was in there for a hundred years!”

“I’m not sure I was really supposed to find you, to be honest,” Zuko admitted. “I was kicked out like you. My father said I could only come back if I found you.”

“Wow, that’s harsh. Are you sure you even want to go back? Your father sounds awful, and I’m not just saying that to get you to let me go.”

For some reason, Zuko actually believed him. Not that it changed anything. “I have to go back. Family is family. And I don’t….”

He trailed off, but Aang nodded understandingly. “You don’t have anyone else, huh?”

Zuko shook his head wordlessly. Aang opened his mouth to say something else, but their conversation was cut short when Zuko’s eyes caught something horrifying in the distance. “Oh no.”

Aang blinked at him. “What is it?”

“A Fire Nation war ship,” Zuko breathed, scrambling to his feet. “We have to go, _now_.”

“Wait – a war ship - ?” Aang pushed himself to his feet as well with airbending as Zuko tied everything down securely and picked up his paddle. “They’ll leave if I’m not there, right?”

Zuko froze.

“Blue?” Aang’s eyes widened. “Blue, what will they do if I’m not there?”

“…They’ll destroy the village,” Zuko muttered reluctantly. “They won’t believe it. They’ll burn the whole village to the ground before they believe it.”

Aang’s gaze filled with horror. “What if they see us leave?”

“On this thing? We’d have to get much closer before they noticed us, and they’d probably already be in the village by then.”

“I bet they’d notice a sky bison!” Aang exclaimed. “My bison, Appa, he’s huge, and he can fly. He’s just across town – if you bring me to him, I can get him to go fly around. And only an Airbender could tame a sky bison, so they’d have to know it was me, right?”

“I couldn’t bring you across town without being caught.”

“What do you – oh. By the Kyoshi Warriors, you mean.” Aang deflated.

Zuko stared blankly at the warship rapidly approaching land. He couldn’t believe it. He had been so close, _so close_ , and yet…, an entire village…, no. He couldn’t let an entire village pay the price for his loss of honor. That was too much. He turned back to Aang, his one and only chance at redemption. “Turn around.”

Aang looked up at him, the dismay in his eyes slowly but steadily turning to hope. “Are you…?”

“Turn around.”

He eagerly obeyed, and with a heavy heart, Zuko untied the ropes. “This isn’t over.”

“You’re letting me go?” Aang squeaked. While Aang was distracted, Zuko cut a small piece of cloth from his tunic as well and pocketed it.

“I _will_ catch you,” Zuko asserted. He backed away. “But today, yeah, I’m letting you go.” His jaw tightened. “If they catch you, they aren’t going to treat you well. I could have some say in the way you’re treated once you reach the Fire Nation, but only if I’m the one to bring you there. _Be careful_.”

“I won’t get caught, Blue,” Aang promised. “Thank you.” With that, he was off.

Zuko watched him vanish into the forest with speed befitting an Airbender. He picked up his paddle and began heading back to Chin Village, thinking of the cloth in his pocket. It was high time he visited an old rival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I haven't really written anything creative in about three years. I was a bit nervous about posting this and I would appreciate any kind of constructive criticism if you have the time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter should be out within the month, I think.


	2. Nowhere Else to Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from All These Things That I've Done by The Killers, another excellent song which I highly recommend if you don't already know it. I'm amazed by the reception last chapter received - I really didn't think this was going to be so popular. I must have been inspired by it because this is probably the fastest I've ever churned out a chapter! Just to warn you, I doubt I'll be able to keep up this kind of pace in the future.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

#### Act 1: The Bounty Hunter

#### Chapter 2: Nowhere Else to Run

Just over a week after his first encounter with the Avatar, Zuko wore his mask and his swords to a shady bar just outside Omashu and sat down right next to a potential ally. Of course, his hope for her to become his ally diminished substantially when she reacted to his arrival by stabbing a knife between his fingers. “What do you want?” she snarled at him.

“Back off, June,” Zuko replied tersely. “I’m here to negotiate.”

June leaned back in her barstool, scowling skeptically at him. “How much are you offering?”

“Not ‘how much,’ but ‘what.’” Before she could question him again, Zuko pulled the cloth he’d cut from Aang’s tunic and placed it on the table. “This belongs to the Avatar.”

June’s jaw dropped. “Damn, Blue, you work fast.”

It was more a case of being in the right place at the right time, but she didn’t need to know that. “It would be a lot easier with your help, and more specifically, Nyla’s. At the same time, you don’t have any way of tracking him without my help either. We may as well work together and split the reward.”

“Hmm. Or, I could kill you, take the cloth, and find and capture him myself.”

“Could you?”

Zuko watched in silence as she eyed him warily. After a few seconds, her gaze widened minutely, and she sniffed the air. “Damn it. Perfume.”

“You really think I’d come without it?” Zuko laughed at her. “I’m more attached to my life than I am to my masculinity.”

“Always did like that about you,” June purred. “Fine, then. When are we leaving?”

“Tomorrow. Let me arrange for a weeks’ safe keeping for my ostrich horse tomorrow morning and we’ll meet back here to find the Avatar.”

 

 

Their first stop was Omashu. Zuko was worried they’d have to go hunting the Avatar through the city, which would be difficult since the Earth Kingdom guards wouldn’t give him up without a fight. However, Nyla caught Aang’s scent leaving Omashu, too, so they followed it from Omashu to a mining village just outside of a military fortress, which was possibly even worse. Zuko and June left Nyla tied up somewhere and made their way to the outskirts of the village. As a villager wandered too close to them, they came at him from either side and pinned him to a tree. “Seen the Avatar lately?” June inquired sweetly.

“N-N-N – “ The villager swallowed harshly and looked down. “…Yes. He passed through here a few days ago with a Kyoshi Warrior named Suki.”

June cursed. “Damn it, one of _them_.” She exchanged glances with Zuko. “That complicates things.”

Zuko focused on the villager. “Did they say where they were going next?” The man shook his head vigorously, and Zuko yanked him forward before slamming him against the tree again while drawing his sword. “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes!” the villager cried. “Please, I swear I’m telling you the truth, I have no idea where they were going! I didn’t even speak to them! The two of them freed our Earthbenders from the Fire Nation soldiers who were using them for slave labor. That’s all I know! Really, it is!”

“This guy’s a coward,” June muttered. “If he knew more than that, he’d tell us.”

Zuko scowled and released the villager, letting him scramble back to the village. “Let’s get out of here before he tells anyone.”

They got back onto Nyla and followed the Avatar’s scent through a forest that had been burned down to a bordering town. “I’ve got an idea,” Zuko declared as they left Nyla tied up somewhere again.

June waited a few seconds, then glared at him. “Well? You gonna share with the class?”

“Just follow me.”

Zuko strode off to the town, ignoring June’s griping as she begrudgingly plodded after him. The villagers looked at him in alarm as he approached the village leader. “Have you seen a girl with short brown hair, about this tall?” he demanded urgently, raising his hand to Suki’s height.

The leader took in Zuko’s appearance and his expression darkened. “Yes. Why?”

“She’s wanted back on Kyoshi Island,” Zuko explained. “She defected from the Kyoshi Warriors. The leader of her village informed me that she deceived the Avatar into traveling with her and hired me to catch her and bring her to justice.”

“I see,” the village leader said gravely. “I had no idea. She and the Avatar were here earlier today, but I’m afraid they are long gone now – they left for Crescent Island.”

Zuko stared at him in disbelief. His target had wandered right into the Fire Nation. On the one hand, if he could catch the Avatar on Crescent Island, it would save him the trouble of transporting him there safely. On the other hand, without his mask on, Zuko absolutely could not enter the Fire Nation. He didn’t want to know what the Fire Lord would do to him if he did. He glanced at June on his side. The Blue Spirit could not be deterred from his prey by enemy borders. Zuko would just have to not get caught. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure the Avatar gets away from the Warrior safely, don’t worry.”

Zuko and June left the town and returned to Nyla. “What now?” June asked.

“I have a boat back at Gaoling, but by the time we got there and then to Crescent Island, I’m sure the Avatar and his escort would be long gone.” Zuko growled in frustration. “Do you have any nearby contacts in the Fire Nation? Someone who could get us a ride there?”

“No one nearby owes me that badly.” June rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “But…. I know someone who could get us the Fire Nation patrol schedule….”

Zuko’s stomach dropped. “And then we just have to smuggle ourselves onto a ship and smuggle ourselves off of it.”

“Exactly.” She flashed him a daring smirk. “Scared?”

“Not a chance,” he bluffed smoothly. “Just wondering if you can keep up.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “I can take care of myself, Blue. You worry about you.”

 

 

They rode Nyla to another shady bar, where June left him to watch her, went inside, and returned with the information they needed. From there, they went to the nearest harbor, where a war ship bound for Crescent Island was parked as its crew gathered supplies. “You wanna take your mask off, maybe, and draw a little less attention?”

Zuko chuckled darkly. “You’ve never seen my face. Trust me, I’ll draw more attention without the mask.”

June gave him a strange look and shrugged. “If you say so. I hope you’ve got a plan. I’ll meet you on board.” With that, she sashayed towards a Fire Nation soldier.

Zuko glared at her as she left. Somehow she always rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t wait to be done working with her, but for now, he had to focus on the current objective; finding the Avatar. To find the Avatar, he had to find a way onto that boat first. Luckily for him, he was intimately aware of how those ships worked. It wouldn’t be the first time his origins were an ace up his sleeve instead of a curse. If he could get his hands on some blasting jelly, he knew exactly where to use just a little bit of it to blow the right size hole in the ship where no one was likely to notice it. It’d make quite a noise though. He’d have to do it while no one was on the ship – so he’d have to do it before they returned to the ship, which could be anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour away. He’d have to hurry. And June was right, too; if he could avoid letting the Fire Nation know that the Blue Spirit was there, he really, really should.

He went to a secluded part of the dock and settled on the edge of the dock. He would make too much noise splashing around in the water if he tried to hang onto the dock and slide along the edge, so he’d have to press himself to the bottom of the dock instead, staying above water. He took off his shoes, pulled two hiltless daggers out of a small sheath not dissimilar to the one he kept his favorite knife in, a memento from his late uncle, and then he put a dagger into each shoe, pushing the blade through the heel so that it stuck out just a bit. He carefully put his shoes back on and braced himself. _Agni_ , he hated this part. He slowly lowered himself into the water, adjusting the way his hands gripped the dock so that his arms were over his head. Then he swung back and kicked the daggers in his shoes into the bottom of the dock, steadying himself and holding himself in the air just inches above the water. He inched sideways until he heard a familiar voice, and then he pulled himself back onto the dock, right behind his favorite vendor. He let himself in through the back. “Hey, Oh,” he greeted the green-clad pirate manning the store.

Oh grinned sharply at him. “Blue! So good of you to stop by. I suppose it’s too much to ask that you come in through the front, and, I don’t know, _dry_.” He gestured to Zuko’s sopping clothes.

“You know I don’t like the Fire Nation,” Blue replied mildly. Most of his recurring associates did know that. It wasn’t uncommon enough to be dangerous knowledge. Almost everyone who wasn’t Fire Nation would rather avoid them whether they were wanted or not.

“Fair enough,” Oh conceded. “What are you here for today?”

“The usual.”

Oh ducked behind his counter and retrieved a large jar of blasting jelly. “How much?”

“Twenty-five grams.”

“Aw, that little? Fine. Five silver.”

“ _Fi_ \- ?”

“But! For my favorite customer, three.”

“Fine.” Zuko handed him the money. Oh measured twenty-five grams of blasting jelly and put it in a much smaller container. Zuko put the container in a safe place and used the same mode of transportation to get to the warship. He spread most of the blasting jelly in an oval just large enough to fit his shoulders, the broadest part of his body, and set it off from afar with his firebending. The explosion, as predicted, was loud enough to echo in the ship but not loud enough to be heard by those shopping. Zuko slipped inside the cargo bay, where they normally kept only cargo and didn’t set foot inside until the end of a trip. Unfortunately, he’d made a minor miscalculation. Very minor. It was just that this ship seemed to have been renovated some time within the past three years, and his initial plan of staying in the cargo bay until they reached shore and leaving the same way he’d come in wouldn’t exactly work anymore, because he was in someone’s bedroom.

He had to act fast. Zuko turned the door handle and pulled it lightly towards him as he pressed himself to the wall behind it, waiting to see if someone came to investigate the opened door. When no one did, he darted through the doorway, into the hallway, and towards what he dearly hoped would still be the bridge. To his relief, it was. He lightly closed the door, pushed as much furniture as he could against it, and went for the steering wheel. _I hope June’s aboard, because this ship is sailing._ He felt bad that he might be inadvertently leaving her behind, but bounty hunters didn’t go out of their way for each other, even during an alliance. She certainly wouldn’t have even remotely inconvenienced herself for him, and she was level-headed enough that he doubted she’d hold it against him if he treated her the same way.

Still, he was relieved when he heard someone push against the door, followed by her shouting irritably, “Hey, Blue, it’s me!” Zuko let go of the steering wheel to let her in. She whistled as she entered, striding leisurely enough that he assumed she’d already checked the ship for stray soldiers, which was another relief. “I gotta say, I’ve never hijacked a Fire Nation war ship before. Working with you is always a unique, if stressful and aggravating, experience.” Zuko didn’t know whether to interpret that as a compliment or an insult, so he ignored the comment completely. “You know the way to Crescent Island?”

“Yes,” Zuko bit out.

“Okay, okay! Sheesh, no need to bite my head off. I’ve never even heard of Crescent Island, so I wasn’t sure if you’d – “

“ _Stop_. _Talking_.” Zuko hesitated, then ground out, “ _Please_ ,” through gritted teeth.

June huffed and threw herself into a chair so violently it slid across the floor and slammed into the wall. “Well, since you asked _nicely_.”

They spent the rest of the trip in blissful if mildly uncomfortable silence. Soon enough, they were nearing Crescent Island. “I’m positive he’s going to Avatar Roku’s temple,” Zuko announced. “He’s probably going to try and get in touch with his past life. To what end, I can’t say, but it’s the most logical conclusion.”

June rolled her eyes. “You actually believe all that spiritual mumbo-jumbo?”

Zuko sighed heavily. “I’m not interested in arguing with you over this. Agree to disagree. The point is, I’m sure _he_ does, whether you do or not. He’s the Avatar, and more importantly, he’s an Air Nomad. Before the genocide, Air Nomads were well-known for their faith in the spiritual aspects of life.”

“Why do you know all this?” June demanded.

 _My honor hinges on me knowing all this._ “It doesn’t matter. What, do you think I’m lying to you?”

June slammed her fist down on a nearby surface. “Why are you so damn defensive? I was just making conversation! God, I hate working with you.”

“The feeling is mutual, I assure you.” Not a moment too soon, they reached the island. “This way.” Zuko headed for the door and gestured for her to follow him with a jerk of his head. “There’s a hole in one of the bedrooms. That’s how I got on board, and that’s how we’ll get off-board.” They made their way to the bedroom and slid through the hole into the water, which was just below them. Then they swam to shore.

“Since you know so much about this place, I assume you know where this temple is?”

“Yes.”

“Great. Let’s go.”

Zuko had settled the boat as close to the temple as he could, so they had only half an hour at the most of walking time before they reached the entrance to the temple. “Is there a more discreet way into this place?” June looked around dubiously.

“Not that I know of,” Zuko revealed reluctantly. “We’ll have to enter the normal way and hope for the best.” June’s eyes landed on something behind him and widened in alarm. Zuko groaned. “Don’t tell me. Company.”

“Right on the money, Blue. War ship incoming, like, fast. We gotta get the Avatar and bolt.”

Zuko cursed. “Run.”

They dashed into the temple, forgetting about secrecy – if Fire Nation soldiers caught them intruding on sacred ground, the results would be none too pleasant. As they ran up staircase after staircase to reach the top, Zuko ran headfirst into a bright green someone running in the opposite direction. He caught her mouth with his upper arm, and they tumbled to the ground in a heap. When he composed himself, he realized he was looking directly at one of the people he least wanted to be within arm’s reach of – Suki, the Kyoshi Warrior. “You!” she snapped at him.

“Blue!” Aang exclaimed, and then did a double take. “Wait, you two know each other?”

“Unfortunately,” Zuko growled.

“Yeah, no kidding! You stabbed me in the foot!”

“You threw a torch at me!”

“You were intruding on sacred ground!”

“How was I supposed to know that?!”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t sneaking around in the middle of the night like some kind of Fire Nation spy – “

“Enough!” June shouted, taking Aang by the back of his shirt and lifting him to his toes. “We’re all intruders on ‘sacred ground’ now and I’m not sticking around to see what Fire Nation soldiers do to those!” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a shirshu spit dart. Before she could jab Aang with it, however, a blast of firebending knocked it out of her hand.

Suki jumped to her feet and readied herself in a warrior’s stance, as did Zuko. A Fire Sage faced them, narrowing his eyes determinedly. “You will not take the Avatar!” he declared.

“Are you _helping_ us?” Suki asked in shock.

“Isn’t this treason or something?” June pointed out, maintaining her grip on Aang’s shirt.

“The Fire Sages are supposed to serve the Avatar, not the Fire Lord. Even if my brothers have forgotten that, I have not. My name is Shyu, and I will assist the Avatar and any ally of his in any way that I can.”

“Great!” Aang chirped. “I really need to find Avatar Roku, can you tell me where he is?”

“Enough talking.” Zuko drew his broadswords. “The Avatar is coming with us.”

Suki charged at him with her fans. Before she could reach him, however, Zuko heard a distant but hauntingly familiar call. “Search the temple! Do not let the Avatar escape again!”

“ _Zhao_ ,” Zuko and Suki hissed at the same time.

“Uh, who?” June asked.

“He’s the commander who nearly burnt down my village until Aang showed up,” Suki explained. “He’s been chasing us since then.” She glared at Zuko. “How do _you_ know him, anyway?”

“I don’t see how that’s your business,” Zuko snapped icily. “In any case, I’m getting out of here. We all need to get out of here. I don’t know why you came, but it can’t possibly be important enough for you to risk getting caught by Zhao.”

“I have to talk to Avatar Roku!” Aang protested. “Why does no one understand this? If one of my past lives is showing me a vision about a comet, I think that’s pretty important!”

“…A comet?” Zuko paled.

Aang nodded vigorously. “Yeah, a comet! Do you know what that’s about?”

Zuko shook his head. “No. The only comet I know about is Sozin’s Comet. That’s what happened the day Fire Lord Sozin – “ Zuko swallowed. _The day Fire Lord Sozin killed everyone you ever knew._

“It doesn’t matter!” June snapped. “We don’t have time for a history lesson!”

“I have to hear what Avatar Roku has to say!” Aang insisted.

“Then stay here! The bounty isn’t worth this.” June threw her arms in the air and started to leave, but she stopped to stare in disbelief at Zuko, who was stationary. “Blue. Don’t you dare – “

“Do you know how to steer a boat?” he asked quietly. “Do you know the way back from here?”

“ _Damn it_ , Blue!” June snarled at him. “Fine. Fine! I guess I’m staying to help you bunch of dumbasses too.”

“I don’t understand,” Suki interjected.

“Well, no surprise there,” Zuko sneered.

“ _Excuse me_?”

“We don’t have time for this!” Aang implored them. “If you two are helping, then help. Shyu, how do I get to Avatar Roku?”

“This way!” Shyu shifted a light on the wall and pressed his palm to where it had been. He closed in eyes, concentrating, and Zuko felt heat radiating from his hand even from a distance as a secret passage opened. “Come on!” he urged them, dashing into the passage. Suki and Aang ran after him. Zuko and June exchanged glances before following.

Naturally, Suki could not stop griping at him even long enough to run for their lives. “I can’t believe you,” she fumed.

“What did I do now?!”

“I mean, I never thought you were a _good_ guy, but this is pretty low, even for you! Hunting down the world’s last hope just for money?”

“What do you mean, for money?” Aang asked, bewildered. Zuko glared at his back. He knew where this was going.

“He’s a bounty hunter, Aang,” Suki explained patiently. “Right now, you’re the bounty. If he brings you to the Fire Lord, he probably gets enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his godforsaken life and then some, even if he splits it with the other one.”

“My _name_ is _June_ ,” June snapped, but she was ignored.

“Hang on a second – Blue, you said you had to capture me so you could go home!”

“What are you talking about?” Suki sounded genuinely confused now.

“When Blue had me tied up on his boat, he told me that his father would only let him come home if he caught me first,” Aang elaborated cluelessly.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Suki shook her head. “It was a trick, Aang, he just wanted you to let your guard down.”

“Why would he need your guard down, though?” June pointed out mildly. Zuko shot her a look of betrayal. He couldn’t believe all three of them were gossiping about him right in front of him. “I mean, you said he had you tied up, right? So then why would he need your guard down?”

“What difference does it make?!” Zuko demanded, stopping to face her. “No matter why I’m hunting you, Zhao is in this temple with us right now and I _swear to Agni I am not getting captured by him and neither is the Avatar_! So _keep running_ , damn it!”

Suki jolted back into action, and the five of them reached a large, complicated door soon. “No!” Shyu cried in despair. “This is awful! They closed the door.”

“So? Just open it,” June hissed.

“I can’t just open it. Only a fully-realized Avatar can open it. Otherwise, all five sages have to be here to open it with five simultaneous blasts of firebending.”

“Blasts,” Zuko muttered pensively. “Blasts – blasting jelly!” He reached into his satchel and retrieved the small container of blasting jelly he’d purchased from Oh, which still contained small but potentially powerful smears of jelly.

June cackled. “Blue, you’re a genius.”

Zuko spread the jelly in each of the five slots, and then he, Suki, Aang, and June backed away behind some pillars while Shyu used his firebending across the five slots. The room shook with the force of the combined explosion, and when the smoke cleared, the door was wide open.

“Yes!” Aang cheered. “Thanks, Blue! You’re the best!”

“Hurry up and talk to Roku,” Zuko grumbled.

Aang nodded and darted into the room. Shyu closed the doors behind him.

“Oh, great,” Suki groaned. “I’m stuck in a room with _you_ until he’s done.”

“If anyone should be complaining here, it’s me,” Zuko complained. “You’re the one who nearly killed me.”

“Please,” Suki scoffed. “All it would have done was burn your face a little.”

“I’m terribly sorry that I don’t want my face burned again!” Zuko exclaimed incredulously. “Really, what a ridiculous concern. So sorry to have inconvenienced you.”

“Ooh, _again_?” June echoed, interest evidently piqued. Zuko cursed himself. “So that’s what you were saying earlier, about your actual face being more distracting than the mask! You’ve got some kind of nasty burn on your face, is that it?”

“Wait.” Suki scowled. “A burn on your face…? No, it can’t be.” Zuko stilled as Suki came dangerously close to a realization he would rather her not make.

“What is it?” June leaned forward curiously.

“There was a visitor on Kyoshi Island,” Suki recalled slowly. “A teenager around my age. He had a burn covering the left side of his face. He approached me in the marketplace when I was watching Aang to tell me about a crime going on nearby.” She squinted at Zuko. “That would be awfully convenient, but there’s no way you’re that young. Are you?”

“What do you want me to say?” Zuko said exasperatedly. “I could tell you I’m twenty years old and have never set foot in the Kyoshi Island marketplace, but I doubt you’d just take my word for it, so what’s the point?”

“You’re right. It doesn’t make a difference,” Suki decided venomously. “You’re reprehensible either way. It doesn’t matter how old you are or how far you went to catch Aang. The fact that you would try at all, when he’s the only person who can defeat the Fire Lord, end the war, and restore harmony, is unforgiveable.”

“Thankfully, I don’t need your forgiveness, _little girl_ ,” Zuko sneered at her.

As Suki puffed up her chest, likely about to tell him exactly what she thought of his response, Shyu hissed, “Shh! I hear footsteps!”

Suki grabbed Zuko’s arm and yanked him behind a column. His heart pounded. He _could not_ be caught by Zhao – not now, when he was so very close to fulfilling his father’s last request. And he wasn’t letting Zhao get his slimy hands on the Avatar either, for both his sake and Aang’s. He didn’t want to imagine how someone so cruel would treat an innocent twelve-year-old boy who happened to be the Avatar. “Can you swim?” he hissed to Suki. She opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded wordlessly, watching him with thoughtful, calculating eyes. He turned to the column on their right, behind which June and Shyu hid. “Can you two swim?” They both nodded. Zuko took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay….” He pulled the rope meant for the Avatar out of his satchel. “A fall from this height could do serious damage, even landing in water. If I tie one end of this rope around your wrist and one end around June’s wrist, if you two go on either side of a column and go out one of those windows, the column can probably hold your combined weight…. That would cut the height down a bit…. Shyu, you and I could climb down one side each…. I don’t know if the rope is _that_ strong, though….”

“I will stay here,” Shyu volunteered. “I will help the Avatar escape once he’s finished communicating with Avatar Roku, and then I will face the consequences for my actions.”

“Thank you, Shyu.” Suki bowed solemnly. “We will not waste this sacrifice.”

All too aware of the rapidly dwindling seconds between them and their capture at Zhao’s hands, Zuko hurriedly tied the the rope to both girls’ wrist. Suki walked around the column so that the rope was wrapped loosely around it. Then Shyu firebended at the window, and Suki and June leapt through. Zuko waited a few seconds, and then, as he heard voices nearing them, he leapt through the window. Grimacing, he used the daggers in his heels to scrape along the building and slow his descent. _These are going to be blunt after this. I hope I can afford replacements._ He caught Suki’s rope with his right hand, hissing as he felt the friction causing his palm serious damage. Suki reached out and grasped his left hand, steadying him. The rope started lowering them thanks to their combined weight. He got a better grip on the rope and, as June was raised almost back to the window, cut through the rope between him and Suki, sending her diving into the water below and him flying back up. As he’d hoped, the weight change threatened to cause a see-saw effect; he was raised disproportionately high, and at his peak, was several yards higher than June despite probably weighing at least as much as her if not substantially more. Before gravity could correct the situation, he let go. June squeaked in alarm - _do_ not _forget to make fun of her for that later, Blue_ \- and Zuko used his shoe-daggers to slow himself down, an advantage June didn’t have.

“Spread out!” June shouted. It took Zuko a second to understand what she meant; her arms and legs were spread, leaving her body horizontal. Zuko took the instructions at face value, leaning back and stretching his limbs in opposite directions. Because he was facing the wrong way, and was just slightly lower than June somehow, he was completely unprepared for the water slamming painfully against his back as he was submerged in the ocean. He panicked immediately, instinctively drawing breath and choking on the water. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t breathe he couldn’t breathehecouldn’t – 

The next thing he knew, he was vomiting water onto safe, steady land. “You can’t swim?!” someone shrieked at him. Wiping water from his chin, he looked up to see a blurry Kyoshi Warrior glaring at him in disbelief.

“Can,” he muttered blearily. “Jus’ bad at it.”

“Blue, I can’t decide if you’re a badass or a dumbass,” June told him gleefully. “Or should I call you…, Red?” She dangled something in front of him. Zuko blanched. It was his mask.

“You _are_ that kid from the marketplace!” Suki accused.

“’M not a kid,” Zuko snapped, lunging for his mask and tumbling back to the ground when June stepped to the side. His reflexes must still be a little off from the near-death experience.

Suki actually outright laughed at him. “You can’t be more than a year older than me!”

“I’m twenty,” Zuko asserted.

Now June laughed at him. “Twenty? I’m twenty. You’re, like, ten.”

Zuko sighed heavily. “I’m sixteen.”

June whistled. “ _Damn_. Where’d you learn to fight so well at sixteen? I’ve seen you wielding those swords.”

“Rich family,” Zuko muttered defeatedly. “And lots of practice.”

“What were you doing as a bounty hunter at fourteen?” Suki questioned surprisingly mildly.

Zuko resisted the urge to firebend her back into the ocean. “My mom’s dead, my dad’s an asshole, my uncle killed himself, and my sister’s a psychopath,” he snarled, counting off his fingers as he listed each relative. “What were you doing as a Kyoshi Warrior at fourteen?”

“Thirteen,” Suki corrected quietly. “My parents went to war. I wanted to carry my own weight in the village. I’m a fast learner.”

“Great. Now that the heart-to-heart is over, can I have my damn mask back please?” Suki looked genuinely hurt by his flippancy, so much so that Zuko almost felt bad about it, but then again, how was he supposed to know that the Kyoshi Warrior protecting the Avatar would be emotionally impacted by the opinions of the bounty hunter doggedly impeding her? He held his hand out to June, who reluctantly gave him back his mask. He immediately put it back in place on his face.

“So you, what, ran away from home?” June asked, because apparently she was physically incapable of restraining her incessant nosiness.

“What is this, an interrogation?!” Zuko demanded hostilely. “My personal life is not for you to know! End of story!”

“Geez!” June held up her hands innocently. “You really need to chill.” She grinned wickedly, gesturing to the left side of her face. “Get it? Chill? Because of the burn on your face?”

Zuko stared at her in disbelief.

Suki snickered.

It was very lucky for Suki and June that that was when Aang chose to drop from the sky, because he was very, very close to murdering them both on principle. “Hey guys - what’s up - sorry - don’t have time to talk because if I stop you’ll probably kidnap me - Suki hang on tight - nice seeing you!” he shouted cheerfully as he swooped by on his glider, holding out an arm which Suki grabbed onto as he passed.

June sighed. “Still got that cloth, Blue?”

Zuko smirked. “Of course.”


	3. Splash of the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! I didn't think this was worth tagging for, but I'm putting a trigger warning here for a one-line vaguely implied rape threat. To be clear, rape is not overtly mentioned anywhere in this chapter, nor is it implied to happen or have happened previously. A character is very, very briefly threatened with it, but not in so many words.
> 
> Chapter title is from Cough Syrup by Young the Giant. This song is particularly significant because it was actually a major part of my inspiration for this story; it inspired me to think about a banished Zuko who was a little less loyal to the Fire Nation and a little less reverent of his father.
> 
> In other news, I changed a small thing in the last chapter; Zuko meets June at a bar just outside of Omashu, not Gaoling. I took another look at a map of the Avatar world and realized that for the purposes of this chapter, it just didn't work. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

#### Act 1: The Bounty Hunter

#### Chapter 3: Splash of the Sun

“ _What_ are they _doing_?” June complained as they passed through the same town for the third time in as many days.

“Trying to lose us?” Zuko shrugged. “It’s not like they know about Nyla.”

“Okay, but why are they going in circles then?” June demanded. “Shouldn’t they be trying to go faster to get rid of us? I mean, they travel by _air_ , for spirit’s sake!”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “June, we’re hunting down a fifteen-year-old girl who’s never left her village and a twelve-year-old boy who didn’t even know there was a war a few weeks ago. They’re hardly criminal masterminds.”

“That should just be common sense,” June muttered indignantly.

“Whatever! It doesn’t really matter, does it? No matter where they went or how they tried to lose us, they couldn’t possibly. There’s no sense in debating which way they should go about it. That’s just a waste of breath.”

“Hey! Respect your elders, punk!”

Never again. Never, ever, ever working with her again. Agni, he’d had no idea one person could be capable of being such a nuisance. “It’s getting dark. We should start looking for a place to camp.”

“I still say we’re setting camp too early each night,” June disagreed. “If we cut back on just a couple hours of sleep every night, we’d catch them much faster.”

“No. We need to be at our best when we face the Avatar and his friend. They may not be the most powerful, but they are clever.”

“A fifteen-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy might be able to outwit _you_ , but not me, squirt.”

“I’m sorry, which of us is the more famous bounty hunter with only two years of experience and, oh yeah, no shirshu?”

“Yeah, and which of us had loaded parents who probably spent pounds and pounds of gold on the best sword-fighting lessons money could buy?”

“Being a bounty hunter isn’t about strength. It’s about persistence. Patience.”

“Ha! Are you trying to say _you’re_ more patient than me?”

“I’m not _trying_ to say anything. I’m _saying_ it.”

“I swear, someone needs to teach you a bit of respect.”

Zuko’s jaw tightened. “Go right ahead and try. Smarter and stronger people than you have plenty of times before.”

“Why are you so fucking serious? Can’t you take a joke?”

“I’m not interested in jokes. We do the job, we get paid, we part ways and never see each other again.”

“Fine by me.”

Zuko pointed to a nearby clearing. “Look – that’s the perfect campsite. Let’s just stop for the night and start again tomorrow.”

“Whatever. Anything to make you shut up.”

Zuko bit back his next sarcastic reply in favor of sliding off of Nyla in silence and setting up his sleeping bag. Every single one of their conversations seemed to be in that vein. Traveling with June was one of the worst experiences he’d had since being banished. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

 

 

Luckily, he didn’t have to take much more at all. The next day, they ended up right back at the pier where they’d stolen a Fire Nation ship. Zuko suggested that they visit a contact of his to see if they had any information.

“For three silver, I might know something,” Oh purred. He leered at June. “Or a night with a pretty lady.”

Enemy or not, Zuko didn’t appreciate the way June was being sized up like a piece of meat by his longtime ally. He reached into his money pouch and placed three silver on the counter as calmly as he could manage. “What do you know?” he said through gritted teeth.

If either of them noticed his discomfort, they didn’t react to it in any way. Oh scooped up the money. “A boy with a bald head and some strange arrow tattoos did come here earlier today. I’m not fond of him myself; that’s the only reason I gave you such a cheap price. He was here with an Earth Kingdom girl and a pair of dark-skinned siblings – probably Water Tribe.”

“Water Tribe…?” Zuko echoed, mostly to himself.

_”A couple of teenagers in the Southern Water Tribe found me… I put their tribe in danger, so. They. Kicked me out.”_

“Yeah, that’s right. I can’t imagine anyone else who would steal a Waterbending scroll.” Oh scowled. “We were selling that for 200 gold pieces. Stolen, right out from under our noses!”

“Wait. Three teenagers and a preteen stole 200 gold from you?” June summarized incredulously. “And you just let them? What kind of pirates are you?”

Now Oh eyed her much more hostilely. “Whoever those kids were, they weren’t ordinary kids. That bald kid, he did… something. I couldn’t tell you what it was, but it was powerful. Looked like some weird kind of bending.”

 _Uh oh._ Zuko had been considering inviting the pirates to work with them to catch the Avatar and retrieve the scroll, but now he thought he and June better get out of there before the pirates realized who they’d fought earlier, or else they might go after the Avatar themselves. “Thanks for the heads-up, Oh. Nice doing business with you, as usual. I’ll see you around.”

“See you around, Blue,” Oh replied amicably.

Zuko and June left the merchants. “So they picked up two others,” June grumbled, massaging her forehead. “We’ll definitely have to use the element of surprise to get him now.”

“On the other hand, this could be good news,” Zuko pointed out. “I guarantee one of them is a waterbender, or else they wouldn’t have bothered with the scroll; I doubt the Avatar could learn waterbending from a piece of parchment. No, he would have just waited until they reached the North Pole as they’d planned. While this makes them more dangerous, it also means they’re probably going to try and find time to practice. If we’re careful and don’t let them know we’re hunting them, we’ll definitely catch up soon.”

June nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s keep going.”

They didn’t have to go very far. It turned out the group was foolish enough to stop for practice that same day. When Zuko and June heard a distant splash a few hours later, they exchanged glances and silently slipped off of Nyla. June tied her to the nearest tree, and they traveled on foot in the direction of the splash. It wasn’t long before they reached the outskirts of an obvious campsite right next to a river, led directly there by a familiar voice and an unfamiliar voice discussing waterbending. June smirked at Zuko and the two of them retreated a short distance. “I can’t believe they’re so stupid,” she whispered triumphantly. “Now we just wait for nightfall.”

“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Zuko whispered. “Make sure they don’t go anywhere.”

“Good idea, Blue. I’ll stay with Nyla.”

June left him there, and he settled in to watch over them for a few more hours.

 

 

Later on, while the Avatar and his three friends slept, June snuck back to Zuko. “Ready?” she hissed. Zuko nodded firmly. “Good. Let’s get this over with, finally.” She and Zuko carefully tiptoed to the clearing where the four of them laid out in their sleeping bags. Zuko tapped her on the shoulder and mimed tying a knot, then put his wrists together, then gestured to Aang and the forest and shrugged at her. _Tie him up first, or carry him away first?_ June pointed at the forest. _Carry him off._ Zuko nodded, crouched, and cautiously slid his arms beneath Aang’s sleeping bag, then lifted him and walked off with him.

As he tied Aang’s wrists and ankles together at the clearing with Nyla, Aang’s eyes started fluttering open. “Wh-Wha…?”

Zuko hastily removed his belt and gagged Aang with it. “Sorry,” he muttered, unable to meet Aang’s eyes.

“Stop interacting with the prisoner,” June ordered.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Zuko bit out.

“Then don’t do stupid things.”

Zuko threw his hands in the air. “I’m just apologizing for gagging him! How is that stupid?”

“Um, maybe because you shouldn’t be sorry?” June narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re going soft – “

“I’m not going soft,” Zuko growled. “Just forget it. Let’s go.” He placed Aang on his stomach across Nyla’s back and steadied him before hopping on himself. June sat in front of Aang, sandwiching him between the two of them. However, before they could take off, a scream tore through the silence. Zuko looked at June in alarm. “They’ve realized he’s gone! We have to go, _now_.”

“Relax, Blue! The pirates probably had the same idea as us.”

Zuko froze. “The pirates?”

“Yeah, they’re probably just taking back the scroll and teaching those brats a lesson while they’re at it.” June sighed. “Shame. I kinda liked that warrior girl.”

“They’ll kill them,” Zuko realized.

“That doesn’t concern us,” June retorted. “Listen, if you want to go back for them, be my guest. I’m not losing the Avatar. Not again, not for a bunch of idiot kids with sticky fingers.”

Zuko finally looked at Aang. His gaze was pleading, shining with unshed tears. Zuko looked up at the back of June’s head. He looked down again, then anywhere but at Aang. _Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ “Fine. Let’s just go.”

“Great. Let’s.” Nyla took off. Zuko took a deep breath, and then he took Aang’s shirt and threw them off of the shirshu, instinctively pulling Aang to his chest and taking the blow as they hit the ground. “ _Blue, you bastard_!” June shouted. She dug her heels in, hard, and Nyla skidded to a stop.

Zuko quickly drew his swords and sliced open Aang’s bonds. Aang yanked the gag down around his neck. “ _Thank you_ ,” he gasped in relief. He airbended himself to his feet and pulled Zuko to his feet. “Thank you so much, I can’t lose them, Blue – _look out_!” He pushed his hands out, blasting Zuko into a tree. Caught off-guard, he fell to his knees, coughing. He lifted his head to glare at Aang and give him a piece of his mind, but his eyes caught sight of a dart that had wedged itself into another tree that had been right next to him seconds ago.

“Nice moves, Avatar,” June sneered. “But it won’t be enough to save you. Nyla, sic ‘em!” She whipped Nyla, who howled and lashed her tongue out at Aang. Aang just barely evaded the attack, leaping into the air. He lost no time at all, pushing off of a tree with his feet and launching himself directly at June. She ducked, but as he passed over her head, he swiveled midair and landed on his feet behind her before slamming his open palm into her back. She fell forward, but only to her knees; evidently Aang was trying not to seriously injure her, much to Zuko’s chagrin. Zuko quickly unsheathed his swords and lunged for June. She cursed violently and ran for Nyla; obviously she wasn’t interested in taking him on in a fair fight, which, Zuko thought smugly, was pretty smart on her part. “This ain’t over, Blue!” she shouted over her shoulder as she hopped onto her pet and took off.

“I’m sure it’s not,” Zuko muttered.

He and Aang ran to the campsite. “What’s going on?” Aang wondered. The campsite was empty, save for the flying bison and some supplies on the ground. “Appa, what happened?” Aang asked of his pet, sounding like he actually expected an answer. Appa roared in response; Zuko was taken aback by the genuine anxiety he could detect in the creature’s tone. Aang turned to Zuko, brow furrowed. “This isn’t good.”

“You think?” Zuko retorted. “Where the hell are your friends?”

“Right here.”

Horror draining the blood from his face, Zuko pivoted. Oh and at least half a dozen other pirates stood behind them, with Suki and two Water Tribe teens tied up. “Hello,” he greeted Oh, forcing his voice into something like politeness. “Did you find the scroll?”

“Even better,” Oh answered, baring his teeth in a mockery of a smile. “We found the Avatar.” He gestured to Aang.

“That, you did,” Zuko agreed. “What now?”

“Now, you’re going to hand him over, and we’re going to deliver him to the Fire Nation,” another pirate revealed.

“Hmm. Is that so?” Zuko tilted his head to the side. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re outnumbered? Or have you forgotten how to count?” a third pirate chortled.

“Am I, though? I count six of you versus me, and, you know, the Avatar, master of all four elements.” Zuko had no idea what he was doing. They would see right through his bluff immediately, but he had to say _something_. There was a way out of this. There was. There had to be. He just had to stall until he figured it out.

A couple pirates shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Aang with newfound alarm, but the second pirate laughed. “He’s just a boy! He has no idea how to do anything other than run. And with his friends in danger, he’s not going to do a damn thing other than turn himself in.”

“Turn himself in, so that you can kill the leverage? How does that make sense?” Zuko narrowed his eyes. “The way I see it, the longer Aang and I resist, the longer those three stay alive.”

“Good point.” The second pirate smirked nastily. “Of course, _alive_ is pretty vague.” Zuko’s blood ran cold. “I can think of a million things to do to this one without even hurting her.” He patted Suki’s head. Suki squeezed her eyes shut, silent tears running down her cheeks, but then she opened her eyes and lifted her chin.

“You act like I care what happens to them, anyway,” Zuko retorted. “I’m just here for the Avatar.”

“Yeah, right. Admit it, Blue, you’re a bleeding heart,” Oh interjected.

“So what?” Zuko burst out. “Either I hand Aang over and all three of them die, or I don’t and you torture them. At the end of the day, at least maybe they’ll be alive that way. And at some point, you’ll have to stop.”

“Do we, though?” the second pirate countered. “There’s six of us. In fact, at some point, _you’ll_ have to stop protecting him, and then he’s ours for the taking, because you’re one person and you can’t stay awake forever.”

“Watch me,” Zuko snarled, despite the inanity of the comeback; they were right, of course. Obviously he had to sleep at some point. But he was damned if he was going to give up that easily. There was something. There had to be _something_ \- 

As if acting of it’s own accord, a stream of water separated from the nearby river and yanked the second pirate into said river. Zuko didn’t waste a second; taking advantage of the pirates’ confoundment, he dove forward, unsheathed his swords, and slashed blindly above the other teens’ heads; he felt vicious satisfaction as his blades met resistance, and yanked them back to reveal one pirate’s wrist bleeding profusely from having instinctively blocked the blow and another pirate’s forehead leaking blood into his right eye. Part of him recoiled at how close he might have come to killing that one, but he didn’t have time to worry about the pirates; he had to worry about the three kids they’d threatened with unspeakable acts and the fourth he needed in order to go home. As he pulled back, he hooked each sword in the two teens’ ropes and pulled them back with him. “Aang, cover me!” he shouted. Not waiting to see if the kid would do so, he swiftly sawed through the ropes tying them up.

“Sokka, did you see that?” the girl shouted excitedly. “I did that with my _foot_!” Zuko blinked at her seeming lack of awareness of the situation she’d just been in. Then again, after taking a closer look at her, she couldn’t be much older than Aang; perhaps she truly hadn’t understood.

“Great, can we talk about that later?” the guy, Sokka, shouted back sarcastically. Without so much as a thank you, Sokka dove for the supplies, pulled out a _machete_ of all things, and dove into battle.

“Are you actually, legitimately insane?” Zuko demanded in disbelief as he ran after him. “A machete? _A machete_? You can’t fight pirates with a machete!” He blocked Sokka from one pirate’s attack and immediately counterattacked, jabbing the pirate in the shoulder. The pirate yelped and retreated, dropping his sword and clutching his shoulder. Zuko hoped he’d done serious damage.

Sokka turned to him to reply, but then he cried, “Look out!” Zuko dropped into a crouch. Sokka swung his machete over Zuko’s head. Zuko glanced behind him to see a pirate covering his eyes and stumbling backwards blindly. Sokka smirked. “What was that about machetes?” Both pirates started running away. “That’s right, you better run!” Sokka called after them obliviously.

“You idiot,” Zuko barked at him. He dashed after them.

“What?”

“ _They’ve got Aang_!”

“…What?! Are you sure?”

Zuko didn’t dignify that with a response. Why would he joke about something like that? As he’d ducked, the second pirate to speak had gotten a hold of Aang. He hadn’t seen what happened next, but he was sure it wasn’t favorable. He sliced through branches and dodged trees as he chased the two pirates through the forest, and he could hear footsteps pounding the forest floor behind him, confirming at least one of Aang’s friends joining the chase. They followed them all the way back to the river, where a boat awaited them. Cursing, Zuko put as much energy as he could into the chase, but with their headstart and, little though Zuko wanted to admit it, longer legs, the pirates were able to board the ship before Zuko reached them, and the boat started sailing just as Zuko reached the riverbank.

“They’re getting away!” Sokka announced.

“Thank you, _Captain Obvious_!” Zuko snarled, rounding on him, feeling entirely justified in taking his anger out on him. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t said that just now! Really! Probably would have accidentally jumped into the river without realizing the boat was gone!”

“Fighting isn’t going to help anyone,” the girl cut in sharply. She bit her lip. “I… If I were better at waterbending, maybe I could get to them, but – “

“Hang on,” Sokka interrupted, looking around. “Where’s Suki?”

Zuko’s heart skipped a beat. “Suki?” He looked around too. “No….”

“ _Do they have her _?” Sokka growled. From the murderous look in his eyes, Zuko could tell that he, at least, had understood the thinly-veiled threat the second pirate had made earlier.__

__“Sokka – “_ _

__Sokka cut the girl off. “ _If they took her I swear to Tui and La_ \- !”_ _

__“ _Sokka_!”_ _

__“ _What_ , Katara?!”_ _

__Katara wordlessly pointed upwards. Bemused, Zuko and Sokka followed her finger to the sky, where Appa was quickly gaining speed on the boat. As Appa grew closer to the boat, Suki’s head popped up, succeeded by the rest of her body, and then she backflipped off of Appa and onto the boat, disarmed both pirates atop the boat easily, and darted inside, beyond their line of sight. “ _What_ is she _doing_?” Sokka exclaimed, aghast._ _

__“Well, I’m not just standing around,” Zuko decided. If there was something he could do, then by Agni, he was going to do it. He dove into the river and started swimming towards the boat._ _

__“Hang on!” Katara called to him. “Yip yip!”_ _

__“Yip yip?” Zuko echoed, flipping in the water to give her a funny look. “What the hell does that even – “ Before he could properly express his confusion, a huge splash sent a wave over his head that left him spluttering. Distracted, his feet stopped for a second, and he started sinking. All the air in his lungs pushed itself out through his nose, and despite his best efforts to prevent it, his lips parted as his lungs demanded oxygen and received water instead. Luckily, before he could black out, a pair of arms lifted him up out of the water and onto a semi-steady surface. As he spat out water, he snarled fiercely at whoever was listening, “ _I’m so – sick - of drow- drowning_!”_ _

__“Can’t you swim?” Sokka demanded._ _

__“ _Yes_ , I’m just not _good_ at it,” Zuko growled. “If this – this _thing_ hadn’t tried to drown me, I would have been fine!”_ _

__“Sorry!” Katara squeaked. “I didn’t realize that was going to happen.”_ _

__“You didn’t realize that a giant monster landing in the water would cause a bit of a splash?” Zuko snapped._ _

__“Appa’s not a monster!” Sokka defended the beast, patting it affectionately._ _

__“I didn’t realize he’d land in the water,” Katara corrected._ _

__Zuko sighed, reaching under his mask to rub water out of his eyes. “…Fine. I guess that’s valid. Apology accepted.”_ _

__Appa landed on the boat, and the three of them leapt off, ready to fight. However, Aang shot out from inside the boat on his glider with Suki clinging to its back. The two of them flew right over Appa before Suki exclaimed, “Aang, they’re on the boat!” Aang glanced back at them and flew back to them. The two of them landed surprisingly gracefully. Aang twirled his glider, and it snapped to a staff._ _

__“Oh, so that’s what that thing’s for,” Zuko muttered. “I’ve never seen you do that before.”_ _

__Before anyone could say or do a thing, Suki dashed at Zuko, yanked him forward, maneuvered herself behind him, threw him to the ground, and had his hands and ankles bound together as he’d had Aang’s maybe an hour or two ago. “Sorry,” she said, sounding genuinely regretful. “I really don’t want to do this, especially since you just saved our lives when you had absolutely no reason to, but I can’t take the chance that you won’t try to kidnap Aang again.”_ _

__Zuko sighed, taking care to sound absolutely as put-upon as he possibly could. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “You’re terrifying and I would never take you on in a fair fight, but whatever.”_ _

__“Thank you!” Suki exclaimed oddly indignantly as she and Aang lifted Zuko and put him back in Appa’s saddle. “You hear that, Sokka? Why can’t you just acknowledge my superiority without feeling like less of a man, like Blue can?”_ _

__“Why are you two even here, anyway?” Zuko put in, seizing the opportunity to give them a piece of his mind. “Aren’t you the two jerks who kicked Aang out of your tribe?”_ _

__“I _had_ to!” Sokka defended himself. The three of them joined him in the saddle while Aang climbed onto Appa’s head. “I was just trying to keep my village safe, okay? I apologized to Aang, Aang forgave me, and now we’re cool! So what’s the problem? We are cool, right?” Sokka added at the end, suddenly sounding nervous._ _

__“It’s okay, Blue!” Aang chirped after a quick, “Yip yip!” got them flying, entirely too forgiving. “Sokka had to put his tribe first. I understand that! And once he and Katara found out I was the Avatar, they traveled all the way here by boat so he could apologize in person and so that they could help me get to the North Pole.”_ _

__Zuko sniffed. “I’m sure it doesn’t hurt at all that Katara probably needs a waterbending master as much as Aang does.”_ _

__“Hey!” Katara objected. “Unlike Sokka, _I_ wanted to go with Aang from the start.”_ _

__“It’s true,” Aang confirmed. “She insisted. She didn’t want me to go off by myself. I practically had to force her to stay with her family.”_ _

__“Katara’s cool,” Suki agreed. “Sokka, though. I’m still on your side about him.”_ _

__“You? On my side? The world must be ending.”_ _

__“Ha, ha,” Suki retorted dryly._ _

__“So what now? Am I your prisoner?”_ _

__“No!” Aang hastily denied._ _

__“…So what are you going to do with me, then?”_ _

__“…I don’t know.”_ _

__“We can’t really let him go, either,” Sokka pointed out. “If he’s really chased you all the way from Kyoshi Island, he’ll probably just come after you again.”_ _

__“You’re not seriously suggesting we keep him as a prisoner?” Katara questioned. “After he saved our lives?”_ _

__“He saved our lives after kidnapping Aang,” Sokka countered._ _

__“Look, you’re right that he’s probably going to try again, but Katara’s right,” Suki put in. “Aren’t we the good guys? Even if the smart thing to do is to keep him, the _right_ thing to do is to let him go as thanks.”_ _

__“I’m on her side,” Zuko voted._ _

__“Oh, shut up,” Sokka grumbled without heat. “Aang? Come on, buddy. You’re on my side, right?”_ _

__“Sorry, Sokka, you’re outvoted. Where would you like us to drop you off, Blue?”_ _

__“…If you could drop me off near Omashu, I’d appreciate that.”_ _

__A mostly-silent few hours later, they landed a couple miles from Omashu. “You guys stay here,” Suki said. “I’ll take him far enough away to be harmless and let him go, okay?”_ _

__“That’s not safe!” Sokka protested. “What if he attacks you?”_ _

__“I can take care of myself,” Suki replied in a tone that brokered no argument. Sokka deflated and nodded minutely. “Aang, help me get him there? And then come back before I untie him.” Suki and Aang carried Zuko several feet from Appa before Aang dashed back with unnatural speed. Suki quickly untied him and they both stood up._ _

__“Thanks,” Zuko muttered reluctantly. “…You can go now, you know. Or do you need me to walk away first?”_ _

__Suki hesitated. “I….” She steeled herself and bowed to him, stunning him. “I’m sorry for throwing that torch at you,” she told him solemnly. “I was young and headstrong, and I panicked. Now that I know what happened to you – well, I don’t know, but I can guess, and while at the time I thought you were overreacting by stabbing my foot, I realize now that you were just as panicked as I was, maybe more so, because me throwing that torch must have reminded you of when you got that scar. I want you to know, if it means anything to you at all, that I truly am apologetic for what happened when we met.”_ _

__“…Thank you,” Zuko said. “…I… accept your apology. And I guess I’m sorry for stabbing you, too.”_ _

__Suki looked back up with a bright smile. “I accept your apology, too, although it’s unnecessary.” She straightened her back. “Well, now that that’s over, I’m going to leave now.” She started to walk away, but then she paused one last time to toss another sentence over her shoulder. “I know this is impossible, but for what it’s worth, I hope that the next time we meet, we can meet as friends…, somehow, because I’m sure there’s good in you.” She strode off._ _

__Zuko wrestled with himself, then shouted back, “Wait! June, the other bounty hunter, she’s probably going to start chasing you now too. If she has anything of yours, her shirshu can track your scent. You should all start wearing a little perfume, if possible.”_ _

__Suki glanced over her shoulder, beaming. “Thanks! We’ll do that!” With a cheerful wave, she hopped onto Appa’s back, and they flew away._ _

__With a heavy heart, Zuko started walking towards the stable he’d left his ostrich horse at, trying hard not to think about what she’d said._ _


	4. Swallow Your Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: here are the Google searches I made for this chapter alone.
> 
> \- osteomancy  
> \- history of lighting  
> \- does soybean oil have a scent  
> \- when was paint invented
> 
> Chapter title is from Unclear by Kodaline. Enjoy!

#### Act 1: The Bounty Hunter

#### Chapter 4: Swallow Your Heart

Wearing his mask, Zuko meandered through a marketplace, eyeing the wares speculatively. After five more days’ travel in pursuit of the Avatar, with a tip here and there as he headed in the general direction of the Northern Water Tribe, his food supply was running dangerously low. Unfortunately, so was his money supply. He only had enough money to get him a combined total of less than two weeks’ worth of food for him and his ostrich horse, but there was still a good chance he might need that money for something else, too. He decided to spend only a fraction of his money, buying just enough to keep him going for another week so that he would still have money in case of an emergency.

He couldn’t help stopping by the old fortuneteller’s home. Makapu Village was incredibly close to the Fire Nation, and it had been one of his and his mother’s first stops after his banishment. His mother had come down with a strange illness and the fortuneteller had been kind enough to house them for a week while she recovered. During that time, she had taught Zuko, then without his mask under the pseudonym Lee, a great deal about teamaking. It was less than half a year after their encounter that his mother died, and about half a year after that that he heard of his uncle Iroh’s suicide. At least, that was what the Fire Nation had called it. He knew for a fact that his mother was killed by a Fire Nation soldier, and he highly suspected his father had had both his mother and Uncle Iroh assassinated, as punishment for the scandal she’d caused in the first case and to secure his claim to the throne in the second case. No matter how Uncle Iroh had died, Zuko had retroactively appreciated the teamaking lessons a great deal. He had never gained any particular liking for the taste of it, but he still found the act of making it to be strangely soothing, reminding him of both of his only true family members.

Zuko was suddenly struck by a most peculiar wonder; would she read the fortune of a dangerous bounty hunter? It would be an absolute waste of time, but he couldn’t deny that he’d enjoy seeing the place where his mother and he had stayed so long ago. Before he could make up his mind about his next step, the door opened. “You really think I’ll get better at Earthbending if I wear more gray?” a young child questioned in wonder as she stepped through the doorway.

Aunt Wu beamed. “I do.”

They two of them stopped dead as they caught sight of Zuko. The child squeaked. “OkayI’mgoinghomenowbyeAuntWu!” She ran off as fast as she could. Zuko magnanimously did not react to her obvious and incredibly amusing terror.

Aunt Wu smiled calmly. “Hello, Blue Spirit. What brings you to Makapu Village? Here to have your fortune read?”

“Why not?” Zuko replied agreeably.

Aunt Wu quirked an eyebrow at him, but otherwise gave no indication of surprise, wordlessly stepping backwards into her home and gesturing for him to follow. He did, and soon sat across from her with a cup of tea as she read cracks in a burnt animal bone. Predictably, she frowned at them. Zuko certainly hadn’t expected a telling of his fortune to provoke any other facial expression. “You are being challenged by a test of faith,” she murmured thoughtfully. “But you will soon be plagued by bad luck, and circumstances that are out of your control. Unless you learn to control your fate, you will inevitably fail in your mission.”

Zuko strongly desired a closer wall into which he could slam his face. “Wait, I don’t understand. I’m going to be plagued by circumstances out of my control, but the only way to succeed is to control them? So I’m doomed?”

“If that’s how you choose to interpret them,” Aunt Wu mused. “Personally, I would say the spirits are telling you to take these circumstances and put them under your control.”

“Spirits, huh?” Zuko stared pensively into the depths of his tea.

“Do you believe in spirits, other than yourself?” Aunt Wu inquired amusedly.

Zuko continued his very important and detailed examination of his tea leaves. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “My uncle did, when he was alive. I think my mother did too, although she never said so. I’ve never had a reason to believe in them myself but the two of them were right about most things so I don’t see why they couldn’t be right about spirits as well.”

“Is there a reason why spirits would be telling you to take control of your fate?”

Zuko made an aggravated noise. “There are _plenty_ of reasons, but all of them contradict each other. How am I supposed to know which reason is the right one?”

He realized absently that what he’d said really didn’t make any sense out of context, to someone who didn’t realize he was the descendant of both Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin, but Aunt Wu took it in stride. “Well, what is your mission?”

“My mission…?” Zuko massaged his temples. “Let’s just say that I somehow doubt the spirits would want me to succeed in my mission.”

“So perhaps they are telling you the opposite then,” Aunt Wu reasoned. “If taking control of your fate means you will succeed, and you truly believe they don’t want that, perhaps the spirits are advising you to let things be. This bad luck, these circumstances, don’t try to control them. Let them happen.”

“I don’t….” Zuko sighed frustratedly. “I don’t know what that means. I don’t even know where to begin to… How do I… How could I…?”

“I don’t have the answers you seek,” Aunt Wu confessed regretfully. “I can only tell you what the spirits have shown me. I cannot tell you what they mean.”

“Well, thanks, I guess.” Zuko rose to his feet and lifted his cup towards her. “If nothing else, thanks for the tea. It was refreshing.”

“Sometimes a refreshing cup of tea is just as good as a told fortune.” Aunt Wu rose as well and saw him to the exit. Before he stepped through the doorway to leave her home, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “One last thing. A word of advice, from the spirits. If you wish to grow as a person, you must embrace your recklessness.”

“Recklessness? I’m not reckless. I have no recklessness,” Zuko objected.

Aunt Wu shrugged. “I’m merely a messenger, dear. Now, take care, Blue Spirit.”

“Take care,” Zuko muttered back as he left, feeling a bit disappointed. It was truly the height of foolishness, but some part of him had been hoping she might somehow recognize him, maybe by his voice, or his body language, or his brief description of his mother and uncle. He knew logically that she had no reason to recognize him by any of these things, or even by his face if she’d seen it; apart from his scar, he was completely indistinguishable from the dozens of others who passed through her home daily. And apart from teaching him to make tea, she held no real significance to him either. She was just another person in a long list of those Zuko had half-heartedly, debatably befriended in his three years traveling the Earth Kingdom. But she reminded him so much of Uncle Iroh.

Little though he wanted to, Zuko stopped by the guard station before he left the marketplace to check out the wanted posters. Whether he liked it or not, he would have to take on a case pretty soon unless he wanted to starve to death before he could catch the Avatar, so he may as well check for anything easy and minimally out-of-the-way. However, when he entered the station, he wished at once that he hadn’t.

Zhao and a guard were discussing something quietly. Zuko found himself rooted to his spot in the doorway, unable to either move forward and act natural or retreat. Zhao looked up and smiled his polite but somehow threatening smile. “The Blue Spirit,” he remarked. “The infamous bounty hunter. It’s a pleasure.” Zhao held his hand out.

Zuko took it gingerly. He had no choice but to speak to Zhao now. Hoping against hope that after three years, his voice wouldn’t be recognizable, he replied a bit more gruffly than usual, “The pleasure is mine, Mr...?”

“ _Admiral_ Zhao,” Zhao introduced himself. Zuko could hardly find it in himself to be surprised by the new title. It only made sense that someone as cruel and heartless as Zhao would rise through Fire Nation ranks so efficiently. “Funnily enough, I was actually in the area looking for you.”

Zuko’s heart was doing an erratic drum solo in his throat. He could hardly believe that everyone around him couldn’t hear it. “Really? Whatever for?”

“I heard you were searching for the Avatar, and it just so happens that I am, too. Or, at least, I was.”

“Was? So you found him?” Zuko tilted his head to the side in a show of innocent curiosity.

“Yes, with the help of the Yuyan Archers. One of my peers lent them quite graciously to aid my search, and their time has been greatly rewarded. I had been planning to suggest an alliance between my party and yours, but I suppose that is no longer necessary in light of today’s events.”

“I suppose not.” Zuko lightened his tone, which felt oddly appropriate as his head was much lighter now as well. “Well, even I can’t catch everyone I put my mind to, in the end. Congratulations on your success, Admiral Zhao.” Zuko bowed low to the ground.

“Much appreciated, Blue Spirit.” Zhao nodded to him and exited the station.

Zuko nearly turned on heel and walked right back out of the station to do – something, but of course, that would be incredibly suspicious. Zuko pretended to examine the posters with interest while his stomach somersaulted. His afternoon had just gotten a lot more complicated.

 

 

In surprising contrast to Aunt Wu’s prediction, it was pure good luck that led Zuko to pass right by an unusually occupied cave as his ostrich horse carried him faster than ever towards the Pohuai Stronghold, where he prayed he would find Aang. He did a double-take as he heard familiar voices and swerved around a rock to head right back to the cave. His ostrich horse skidded to a stop in the pouring rain outside the cave, and he dashed into the cave, never more relieved to see Suki than he was in that moment. “Oh, hey, Blue,” she greeted him, startled but not unfriendly. “If you’re here to kidnap Aang again, he’s not here. He’s been out for a few hours now. While you’re here, please tell Sokka you’re not responsible for his boomerang going missing. He’s convinced you stole it for some nefarious purpose.”

“Zhao has him,” Zuko snapped. “Zhao has Aang!”

Suki shot to her feet, followed by Katara, who was immediately attacked by a ferocious coughing fit that dragged her back down to join her brother on the ground. “What? Where?” Suki demanded, and then she added, “How do you even know that?”

“I ran into him in a nearby town,” Zuko explained. “He said he was looking for me to work with me in catching the Avatar but then he said the Yuyan Archers helped him capture the Avatar instead. I’m sure they’re going to leave with him tomorrow if they aren’t already gone.”

“And that didn’t seem at all, I don’t know, suspicious to you?” Suki asked doubtfully.

“What do you mean?” Zuko furrowed his brow. “You think he’s trying to…” He shook his head. “What exactly do you think he’s trying to do?”

“I don’t know!” Suki exclaimed. “I’m just saying, it’s something to think about.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think we have that kind of time,” Zuko retorted. “If Zhao really does have the Avatar, he’s not sticking around. I can only hope they’re still there.”

“Where?” Katara wheezed, pushing herself back up.

Zuko stared at her for a few seconds, then at the obviously delusional Sokka who was attempting to interact with a strange, large-eared rabbit monkey, then at Suki. “What happened to them?”

Suki shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea. They’ve been coughing like crazy, and Sokka started hallucinating a few hours ago.”

“Fever?” Zuko demanded. “Rapid dehydration?”

“I – Yes,” Suki replied, astonished.

“I know this sounds weird, but have them suck on frozen frogs. My mother was sick like that three years ago. That’s how she got better.”

“That is weird, but I’ll do that. Thanks, Blue. Now let’s go get Aang back!”

Zuko and Suki made their way out of the cave. “W-Wait for me,” Katara called after them, breaking into more coughs afterwards. Zuko slowly turned around to see the waterbender standing unsteadily and stumbling after them. “I’m coming - !” She bent forwards, body trembling with the effort of movement.

Zuko exchanged glances with Suki, who was looking at him apprehensively. “Blue…”

“You have to stay with them,” he reluctantly agreed with her unspoken plea. “It’s okay. It won’t be the first time I had to sneak into the Fire Nation. I’ll bring him back to you.”

Suki’s gaze fixed searchingly on his own. Whatever she found must have been up to scratch, because eventually she nodded. “Thank you.”

 

 

Zuko left his ostrich horse with Suki and the others and made his way to the nearest road leading to the Pohuai Stronghold. He couldn’t tell if it took seconds, minutes, or hours, but as night fell, a covered wagon rolled across the road towards the stronghold. Zuko rolled under the cart as it passed and tightly grasped the bottom of it as it continued on its path. The wagon rolled to a stop. He waited with baited breath as a soldier inspected the contents of the wagon, then slid in the opposite direction of the footsteps and climbed into the wagon as the wagon’s underside was inspected too. He peered out of the wagon and rolled out of the back around the side of the stronghold near a hidden staircase that he only knew about it from his late childhood. It was meant to be used as a secret, emergency exit, but he could enter from there just as easily.

As he snuck through the fortress, he witnessed so many soldiers gathered in one place, it must be just about every single soldier in the stronghold. Zhao stood before them giving a speech. “…This is the year Sozin’s Comet returns to grant us its power!” he proclaimed dramatically. The soldiers cheered. Zuko grimaced and kept going. Though he had been unnerved by the lack of guards at first, now it made a bit more sense. And if Aang were chained up properly, Zhao wouldn’t be expecting anyone with Zuko’s levels of inside information to be coming for him.

Still, Zuko was surprised to make it all the way to Aang without an incident. “ _Blue_!” Aang breathed, his whole face lighting up. Zuko felt vaguely nauseous as he took in the way Aang was strung up, his limbs stationed midair in four different directions with tight chains. Agni, Zhao was such a bastard. While Zuko drew his swords, Aang said urgently, “Blue, you have to be careful, it’s not just – “

Something sharp sank into Zuko’s back before he could slice Aang’s chains open. Suddenly his muscles locked up, and he collapsed to the ground before Aang.

“It’s not just Admiral Zhao here.” June swaggered into his line of sight, smirking at him. “How do you think he found the Avatar so easily, after all this time? With my Nyla, of course, and with a little help from one of your new friends’ boomerang. See, I learned last time that I couldn’t take on you and the Avatar at the same time, so as long as you were hunting him I didn’t stand a chance on my own. So Zhao and I struck a deal. See, he’s got plenty of money. He doesn’t care about that. He’s looking for status, glory. So he can take all the credit for the Avatar’s capture and then he can give me the reward money and we’ll both be happy.”

“You can’t trust him,” Zuko protested. “Zhao has no honor. He will go back on your deal in a heartbeat.”

“And what would you know about honor, _Zuko_?” Zuko’s blood ran cold. June laughed. “That’s right. I told Zhao all about the sixteen-year-old boy with a burn scar covering the left side of his face who was dead-set on capturing the Avatar. Turns out he was only to eager to include you in our deal. The Avatar isn’t just a bounty; he’s also bait, for you. Zhao’s wanted you behind bars for a long time as both yourself and the Blue Spirit. Now, I’ve caught you directly opposing the Fire Nation, trying to save the Avatar from them. He has all the reason in the world to imprison you once and for all.” She crouched and removed Zuko’s mask. “I’ll be taking this, if you don’t mind. Call it a trophy. And this, well,” she picked up the swords he’d dropped as he fell and pulled his satchel off of his body, “this is just a necessary precaution.”

She walked off with Zuko’s three most prized possessions, right after his knife and his ostrich horse. The latter, thankfully, was with Suki, safe and sound. The former was still hidden in his pocket. It was quite sloppy of June not to pat him down, but then again, he was paralyzed. “Aang,” he hissed, your airbending. I know you can push air away from you. Can you pull it towards you, too?”

“You mean, like, to pick something up? Sure, if it’s not too heavy.”

“I have a pocket on my pants, hidden behind my belt on my left hip. Inside, there’s a knife. You could use it to cut your chains.”

“I can’t see it….” Aang worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “I don’t know if I can airbend it over if I can’t see it. And I’d have to get rid of your belt somehow first anyway.”

Zuko sighed. “So we have to wait until the dart wears off a little, then.”

“You have to be careful, too,” Aang cautioned. “That dart is still sticking out of your back – oh!” He took a deep breath, then another, then another. Zuko was afraid that he’d started hyperventilating until he felt the dart suddenly yanked out of his back, tearing a low groan of pain from him. The dart landed between his teeth.

“That’s gross,” Zuko told him. “That has June’s spit.” Aang made a disgusted noise, but he didn’t reply or release that dart. “Can you reach the lock on one of your chains to pick it?” At Aang’s bewildered expression, he added, “I’ll help you. Can you reach? You know, with your mouth?”

Aang nodded, so Zuko talked him through it, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he heard a soft _click_. “I did it!” Aang exclaimed gleefully after taking the dart with his hand. He quickly followed the same steps on the other three chains holding him down before tumbling out. “Mind if I borrow that knife, Blue?”

Zuko hesitated, unwilling to let someone else use his most prized possession, but it wasn’t like he had a lot of options. “Go ahead.”

Aang gingerly rolled him over, shifted his belt, and pulled the knife out. He slowly removed it from its sheath, admiring it as he did so. “’Never give up without a fight,’” he read. “Where’d you get this? This is pretty neat!”

“I’ll tell you later if we get out of this alive,” Zuko replied. “Do you know how to use that thing?”

“Uh, no. But that’s not what I’m doing anyway.” Aang pulled his tunic off and cut a life-size smiley face into it as Zuko stared bemusedly. Then the airbender put the tunic over Zuko’s face and tied the sleeves tight around the back of his head. “June said something about needing proof that you went against the Fire Nation, right? If no one sees your face, then you’ll be fine.” He frowned. “You can’t move yet, right?”

Zuko tried to wiggle around a little. “Just my fingers and toes,” he admitted.

Aang took his arms and lifted him a bit, testing out his weight. “Geez! You’re really light! Are you eating enough?”

“Enough to get by,” Zuko dismissed. “Now really isn’t the time to discuss my eating habits.”

“Fair enough.” Aang picked him up with surprising ease. Zuko supposed he had a lot of muscle from constantly fighting off and escaping enemies. Aang blasted the door open with a burst of airbending from his foot, revealing Zhao and two soldiers in the hallway. “…Oh no.”

Zhao scowled. “Guards, get the Avatar! And the Blue Spirit, _whoever he may be_.”

“No thanks!” Aang shouted. “Hang on tight, Blue! Oh, wait, you can’t. Okay, I guess I’m hanging on tight!” True to his word, Aang wrapped his arms much more tightly around Zuko’s body, and then he leapt into the air, formed a large spherical air bubble beneath his body, landed on it with one foot, and used it to carry them both onto the ceiling and over the Fire Nation soldiers. Aang released it, somehow landing on both feet like a spider cat.

“Zhao’s office is close,” Zuko grunted. “I know we’re in a rush, but – “

“Your mask. Of course. I wouldn’t dream of leaving without it,” Aang reassured him. He couldn’t see Aang’s face, but he could easily picture the bright, quirky, cocky grin that must have accompanied those words, spoken so cheerfully even under such severe duress. Not for the first time, Zuko wished someone else, anyone else, had been the Avatar. Someone just a little more deserving of the things Aang had already been put through and surely would be put through. At the very least, someone a little less likeable. “Will we pass it on the way out?”

“Very nearly. It’s at the end of a short hallway that’ll be on our left, right before the exit.”

Zuko directed Aang all the way to the office as they lost the Fire Nation soldiers with Aang’s accelerated speed. Finally, they skidded to a halt right in front of it. “Let me go, I think I can walk now.” Aang hesitantly lowered him onto his feet, and though Zuko stumbled a bit, he managed to steady himself and secure balance. He quickly pulled his satchel over his head, stuffed Aang’s tunic inside, placed his mask on his face, and picked up his swords. “Now let’s get out of here.”

With Zuko’s arm around Aang’s neck to aid his stability two of them scampered out of the office, but their exit was impeded by one last obstacle; June, atop her shirshu Nyla. “Going somewhere? No perfume on you now, Blue. Nyla, sic ‘em!”

Nyla lashed her tongue at them. Aang sent at her a strong blast of airbending that nearly knocked June off of her and succeeded in knocking her tongue away, but if they didn’t figure out a more permanent solution they would be at a standoff until help arrived for June. “Aang, give me a boost!” Zuko hissed. Without hesitation, Aang pushed air at Zuko’s feet, propelling him as he leapt up and slashed at the oil reservoir above the nearest lamp. “Bend that to Nyla!”

“Nyla?”

“ _The shirshu_!”

In a break between fending off literal tongue lashings, Aang waterbended the soybean oil out of the reservoir and splashed it onto Nyla. _That’s new,_ Zuko thought in surprise. _Not that I’m complaining…, yet._ Nyla snuffled in alarm and began wriggling. June toppled off of her, and Zuko wasted no time in yanking her to her knees at his feet and holding a sword to her neck. “Don’t!” Aang objected.

Zuko looked up incredulously. “She would kill both of us without blinking an eye. You know that, don’t you? And she’ll never stop hunting you. And she’ll never stop hunting me. And she’s working with _Zhao_.”

Aang was still giving him polar bear puppy eyes.

“She’s done terrible, terrible things!” Groaning in frustration, Zuko kicked her to the ground and put the tip of the sword to the back of her head. “Where’s the damn boomerang, June?”

“Spirits, you really have gone soft!” June exclaimed in disbelief, clearly unable to help herself even in the face of death. “It’s in my purse, which is hanging from Nyla’s saddle. Good luck with that.”

“Give me a lift,” Zuko said to Aang. “Like you did earlier, with that… air-bubble-thing. Just get us onto the ceiling and over Nyla.”

Aang wrapped one arm around his back and hooked it under his right shoulder. “Tuck in your knees,” he warned. Then he summoned his weird air-sphere again and sped to the ceiling. As they passed Nyla on their way to the exit, Zuko hooked one of his swords through the purse strap. They landed behind Nyla and dove for the exit. Unfortunately, once they got there, they found themselves surrounded.

“Blue, what do we do?” Aang whispered nervously as soldiers approached them on either side.

“Something stupid,” Zuko decided. “Something reckless. Aang, just how high could you possibly airbend us?”

“I once sneezed and flew about ten feet into the air,” he chirped helpfully.

“Great. I need you to waterbend that soybean oil over to us.”

“ _What_?! Won’t that make the shirshu attack us?”

“Just do it! Trust me!”

Still eyeing him skeptically, Aang obliged, waterbending the oil off of Nyla and the ground and forming a large bubble that began approaching them. “Are you sure about this?” he whispered anxiously.

“Yes…. Alright, it’s time to jump, airbending style…, _now_.”

Aang pushed off the ground with his feet, using one hand to pull Zuko with him again, as Nyla lashed out at the ground where they’d been just seconds ago. They landed awkwardly on top of her, but with a few seconds’ shifting, they were seated as comfortably as they could be in her saddle, with Zuko in the front. “Keep the oil in front of us,” Zuko ordered. He smirked. “We’re riding June’s livelihood to freedom.”

With Nyla’s nose focused on a target Aang was controlling, they were able to paralyze all of the soldiers in their way and get to the staircase that would lead them to a courtyard. Unfortunately, what seemed like at least half of the soldiers in the stronghold were waiting there for them. “I don’t think the shirshu can fight off all of these,” Aang confessed worriedly. Then his eyes lit up and zeroed in on something in the sky. “ _Appa_!”

“ _Appa_?” Zuko repeated in astonishment. He followed Aang’s gaze to the flying bison and its two female passengers swooping towards them.

“Grab on!” Suki shouted, throwing her left arm as far over the side as she could. Katara followed suit.

“Get ready,” Aang advised him. Giving him no time whatsoever with which to get ready, Aang threw him into the air. Suki caught him by the front of his tunic and yanked him closer, allowing him to get a grip on her. Behind him, he heard Aang leaping into the air to join them, and saw him on his right catching Katara’s wrist with his left hand. Suki and Katara pulled them up, and they watched as the Pohuai Stronghold and its many furious men faded into the distance. Aang faced Katara. “How did you get better so fast?” he demanded.

“This is gonna sound crazy, but Sokka and I just sucked on a couple of frozen frogs!” Katara nodded to Zuko. “Blue is the one who told Suki about that. Thanks, Blue.”

“No problem,” Zuko responded distractedly, still caught off-guard by the sudden absence of immediate life-threatening danger.

“Where’s Sokka?” Aang asked.

“He’s still a bit feverish, so we left him in the cave with Momo and Blue’s ostrich horse,” Suki answered.

“How did you guys even find us?”

“Blue told us where you were before he went to get you.”

“We would have gone with him, but I was too sick to move and Suki had to stay in case Sokka did something crazy and I wasn’t well enough to stop him, or in case I started hallucinating and I did something crazy, so he and Suki called a truce and he agreed not to kidnap you,” Katara added.

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you two are better now,” Aang declared. He turned to Zuko. "By the way, what was that thing you cut open earlier?"

"An oil reservoir. The Fire Nation uses them to maintain the soybean oil levels in the lamps to keep the wick burning for longer."

"Whoa." Aang's eyes were round and filled with wonder as Appa landed outside the cave. "Back in my day, they just used candles."

The four of them clambered out of Appa’s saddle. Zuko handed June’s purse to Suki. “Sokka’s boomerang.”

Suki peeked inside and gave him a big grin. “That’s awesome! Thanks, Blue!” She flounced into the cave. “I’ve got a special jerk delivery for Mr. Jerk of the Southern Jerk Tribe!” Zuko made a mental note to teach her some better insults someday.

As Katara joined Suki and Sokka in the cave, Aang tugged lightly on Zuko’s sleeve. “Could we talk for a second?” Zuko nodded, deflating. He should have expected Aang to want to know what June was talking about earlier, but he couldn’t help hoping he would just forget about it. Aang led Zuko a short ways off from the side of Appa furthest from the cave. He looked away from Zuko, kicking the dirt. “See… I… Well, I…”

“Just say it,” Zuko told him, steeling himself.

“Zhao said he’d keep me barely alive in prison for the rest of my life,” Aang blurted out, meeting his eyes. “Exactly the way you found me.”

Zuko had only a moment to enjoy the relief that came with the unexpected subject before his stomach plunged into the depths of a familiar hatred. “That bastard,” Zuko growled. He realized then that this was no different from what he’d expected Aang to bring up; in order to reassure Aang, he would have to tell him the truth. And regardless of that, if he was going to take away Aang’s entire future in an even worse way than his father had taken his when he was disowned and banished, then Aang at least deserved the truth. “Sit down,” Zuko sighed. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“As you probably heard earlier, my real name is Zuko. My father was – well, my father _is_ \- look, before I was disowned, I _was_ the son of Fire Lord Ozai. He banished me for speaking out of turn during a war meeting. Then he said the only way I could ever go back to the Fire Nation was if I found and captured the Avatar, which was, obviously, an impossible task until you came back. Listen, Aang, you’re incredibly talented and impressive for your age, but you’re still just twelve-years-old. As much as I’d like to believe that you could evade capture until you master all four elements and take down my father once and for all, I just don’t think that’s possible. At least if I capture you and take you home, instead of someone like Zhao, I’ll have power afterwards. I’ll be the Crown Prince. I can make sure you’re treated well even if you’re a prisoner. I can give you some measure of freedom, and after a while maybe, with your help, I can change the public’s view of the war. I can change things in the war, too, and at some point, when my father eventually dies, I could even end the war forever. But I can’t do any of those things if I don’t capture you.”

Aang stared at him, wide-eyed. “…Wow. Okay, that’s a lot to take in, but… that does make sense.” He cocked his head to one side. “I won’t just go with you, though. I have to believe that I can defeat Fire Lord Ozai before Sozin’s Comet. I can’t let the world keep suffering through this war until he dies on his own. I’ve already let the world down too much.”

“I don’t expect you to go quietly,” Zuko assured him. “I just hope you understand that I don’t want to do this. I wish you were anyone other than the Avatar. Maybe we could be friends then.”

“Let’s be friends now,” Aang decided.

“ _What_?” Zuko stared at him, aghast. Had he heard a word of what Zuko had said?

“Katara said you and Suki called a truce. You don’t eat enough. Come inside and have dinner with us, as thanks for saving me… again.”

_Now, that - that would be stupid. That would be reckless. That would be the most reckless thing I could possibly do; befriend the person I'm supposed to be kidnapping._

“…Okay.”


	5. Chasing Down My Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might have noticed that the chapters are each labeled as Act 1: The Bounty Hunter now. Something about this chapter struck me as a sort of ending, even though I'm not even a third of the way through the story yet, so it felt fitting to divide the story into three acts. Next chapter is the beginning of Act 2: The Teamaker.
> 
> Chapter title is from Kamikaze by Walk the Moon. Enjoy!

#### Act 1: The Bounty Hunter

#### Chapter 5: Chasing Down My Demons

Zuko wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he entered another guard station the next time he visited another village, but it probably should have been the Blue Spirit mask he wore printed in black and white on a wanted poster. He stared in disbelief for much, much longer than he should have. _There’s one way to get money,_ he thought somewhat hysterically. _Worst case scenario, I can always turn myself in._ Shaking himself free of his sarcastic inner commentary, he realized numbly that an unnatural silence had fallen over the station since he’d entered. _Oh, wait. I’m a wanted man and I just walked right into a guard station. I guess I did just turn myself in._ There was only one thing for it. He pivoted and darted out of the station.

“After him!” someone shouted, and soon he heard a whole stampede of footsteps giving chase. Well, it still wasn’t the worst situation he’d ever been in. He dodged countless passersby as he sprinted through the marketplace with guards hot on his tail. Then he unsheathed his swords and shifted closer to the left so that he was blocked by stalls on that side instead of people. Thinking fast, he held his left sword out, angled so that it was slicing through the posts that held up the stall overhangs, causing said overhangs to collapse forwards and become insentient obstacles. With the added distraction for the guards, he was able to outrun them all the way to where he’d left his ostrich horse tied up. There was no time to think about it; he cut right through his rope with one swing of his sword and lightly dug his heel in. The ostrich horse took off and left it tied to the post. Zuko swung himself on top of it and took a hold of the reins, easily escaping the soldiers.

They stopped at the shore where Zuko had left his boat. Zuko practically fell off of his pet, exhausted, and patted it amicably. “Thanks, buddy,” he wheezed. He really wasn’t eating enough if that was enough to wear him down, and soon he would have to start rationing even more. Normally he didn’t have to worry about food too much because there were always new criminals to catch and easy money to make, but it had been nearly a season of chasing the same bounty for him and now he had to replace that rope. After all, it would be hard to catch the Avatar if he couldn’t even tie him up, or any bender for that matter.

Once he had time to catch his breath and feed his ostrich horse, his blood began to boil. _Zhao._ What Zhao had already done to him wasn’t bad enough, apparently. Now Zhao had taken away his livelihood and made him a wanted criminal. Though the chase earlier wasn’t something Zuko wasn’t used to, he certainly wasn’t prepared for it to become the rule instead of the exception. _If I have to steal from someone, I swear to Agni, it’s going to be him,_ he seethed silently. The thought gave him pause. Of course. A vicious grin spread across his face as a plan formed in his head. If Zhao was so determined to pick a fight with him, then he’d just have to give him one. Besides which, Zhao was chasing the Avatar, and he had many more resources at his disposal than Zuko did. Why not take advantage of that? He would follow Zhao to the Avatar, dispose of Zhao once and for all, and catch the Avatar in doing so, killing two sparrowkeets with one stone.

It occurred to him that his plans were getting stranger and riskier every day. It seemed the Avatar and his friends were rubbing off on him. He wondered whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. If this new, crazy plan worked, he supposed it would be a good thing.

 

 

He reluctantly removed his mask and packed it away. It would do him no good to wear it and hide his identity for the time being; the Blue Spirit was in a lot more danger than the banished Prince Zuko was. He and his ostrich horse traveled down the shore by boat for another day. Then Zuko rode his ostrich horse into town, a different town, and picked up another bag of feed to leave with his ostrich horse and whoever he paid to take care of his ostrich horse for a couple weeks. He settled down just beyond the marketplace to feed the ostrich horse and for the first time in a long time actually looked at his pet. Not just his pet, but his companion – his only companion for two and a half years. His friend, maybe. His friend who he had taken care of for all of that time, of course, had done his best to provide for even when he couldn’t provide for himself, but who he had never really treated like a true friend. Who didn’t even have a _name_.

“Do you want a name?” he asked thoughtlessly, and then squinted at it in confusion. _This is a new low. I’m trying to have a conversation with an animal._ Still, it didn’t seem right to leave it without a name. He tilted his head, looking around for inspiration hopefully. “…Salmon…? Trout? Boat? Ocean? Dao?” He grinned triumphantly as he turned from his dual broadswords in their sheath back to his friend. “Dao. That’s…, well, better than nothing, I hope.”

Dao lifted his head and looked at him curiously, or at least as curiously as any animal could, before returning to his meal.

Zuko knew that he was embarking on the most dangerous mission he’d ever undertaken. He knew that following Zhao and challenging Zhao came with the highest possibility of death that he’d encountered probably in his entire life. He had to do it, of course. He could obviously never work as a bounty hunter again, at least not as the Blue Spirit. The Avatar would have to be the last bounty he ever hunted. Besides which, now that Zhao knew he was the Blue Spirit, he would never stop hunting him so he could prove it. Even if he did stop, Zuko wasn’t sure he could ever forget how Zhao had stolen his whole life, had threatened Aang so cruelly, had – 

It didn’t matter. Zhao would never stop hunting him, so it didn’t matter. The point was, it only just occurred to Zuko that he wasn’t the only one in danger when he endangered himself. This poor ostrich horse had followed him into so much danger whether he’d wanted to or not, and now, if something did happen to Zuko and he couldn’t return for whatever reason, he realized that he owed it to Dao to ensure that he, at least, had a future. Ideally, a much safer future than past.

Zuko rode Dao back into town and spent the entire rest of the day finding the absolute nicest, safest stable in town. It cost him an extra couple of silver pieces, but Dao deserved a treat. Besides, Zuko knew exactly how he was paying for his next few meals, even before he captured the Avatar. They got there just before nightfall. Zuko left Dao at the stable while he went to deal with the woman running the stable. “Sovon?”

A tired-looking middle-aged woman stepped towards him. “That’s me.”

“Do you have room to keep my ostrich horse for a couple weeks?”

“Sure. That’s four silver pieces and a bag and a half of feed.”

Zuko pulled the money from his pouch and handed it over. “The feed is in his saddle. His name is Dao,” he added before he’d even thought about it.

Sovon smiled at him, looking a bit less tired. “That’s a nice name. You’d be surprised at how many don’t have any name at all.”

Feeling ashamed, Zuko couldn’t bring himself to tell her he’d only named Dao a few hours ago. Instead, he said, “That’s just awful,” because it was. “…If I… Out of curiosity, if I don’t come back, what happens to him?”

Sovon frowned at him, eyes round with concern. “You do mean to come back, don’t you?”

“Of course. It’s just, well, with my line of work, I can never be sure, you know?”

_I don’t have any family or friends to leave him with,_ went unsaid. Sovon nodded slowly, her concern fading to pity. He detested it, but for Dao, he could stand a few minutes of it. “I’ll take good care of Dao for you, no matter what,” she vowed. “I don’t let any animal get treated like they’re worth less than any human if I can help it.”

Zuko released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He’d asked thoroughly around town first, of course, but it was still good to hear the confirmation fall from her own lips. “Thank you,” he responded sincerely. “I hope to come back, but it’s good to know that Dao won’t suffer if I don’t.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Sovon corrected. “I’m sure he’ll miss you.”

Zuko highly doubted that, but he didn’t say as much to her. He merely nodded and left.

 

 

More alone than he’d been in years, Zuko returned to town, purchased a hooded cloak and some rope, returned to his boat and went out to sea about an hour away before settling down for the night. When he woke, he paddled for about a day and returned to the town where he’d been caught. Then he put his cloak on over his sheathed blades and hid his boat and all his things as well as he could, and then went back to the marketplace where he’d very nearly been caught. As expected, the atmosphere was very tense. Zuko made small talk with a few of the shoppers about the weather, the war, and local gossip. From those conversations, he was able to glean that no one Fire Nation had been through any time recently. He hung out for a few more hours and his patience was rewarded; as predicted, Zhao and a few of his men came marching through, probably to take testimonies from the witnesses and to inspect the town for him.

Zuko bided his time until an opportunity presented itself. Then he pulled a Fire Nation soldier with a similar voice into a secluded corner, gagged him, stole his uniform, and left him tied up in a place where someone was sure to find him within a day or two. He emptied the soldier’s money pouch into his own without guilt; he knew exactly how any man working for Zhao earned his pay. He put his sheath on around his waist between his pants and his armor where no one could see it, and he put his mask in his otherwise-empty satchel between his shirt and his armor. That was all he could afford to take with him.

This plan was utterly ridiculous and banked on more assumptions than he was comfortable with; that Zhao’s fleet was large enough for no one to notice a missing soldier, that Zhao wouldn’t recognize his voice should they interact despite having interacted with him as the Blue Spirit within the month, that Zuko could hold his tongue and his temper long enough to elude capture. He was an idiot, but Agni, he felt so alive, and he was surer than ever that Aang and his friends were rubbing off on him. True, he couldn’t conclusively say that they were adrenaline junkies, but considering they’d already stolen from pirates and invaded the Fire Nation in the short time he’d known them, he felt like it was a pretty good guess.

He headed back to the marketplace and met up with the other Fire Nation soldiers. “You’re the last to report back, Terong,” Zhao sneered at him.

_…Uh-oh._ Zuko hadn’t expected him to know that particular soldier by name. What were the odds of that? Zhao never knew _anyone_ by name. Naturally, he’d know the one soldier Zuko decided to impersonate. “Sorry, sir.”

Zhao rolled his eyes. “A little less ‘sorry’ and a little more _improvement_ would be appreciated, soldier. I’m getting sick of your tardiness.” Well, while it was unfortunate that Terong had singled himself and consequently Zuko out like that, at least Zhao wouldn’t suspect anything if he messed up, depending on the severity. “Your report.”

His report? _Here goes nothing…._ “All clear, sir.”

“Hmm.” Zhao looked away, narrowing his eyes pensively. “The Blue Spirit must have already moved on from this town.” He strode away from the marketplace. “Back to the ship, everyone.”

Zuko fell into step with the other soldiers as they followed him, dreading the implications of Zhao referencing ‘the ship.’ Sure enough, there was no fleet waiting for them, just a single ship; Zhao must have split from his fleet to check out the town, which meant that Zuko was currently impersonating a member of the crew aboard Zhao’s very own ship. Once they set sail, Zuko took yet another risk. He pulled one of the soldiers aside, a man with long, thin legs and even thinner arms, and whispered, “I’ve been feeling sick and having an upset stomach all day. I think I ate some rotten food. Could you cover for me for the rest of the day, please? I should probably go lie down for a bit.”

The soldier looked at him incredulously. “What could you possibly have eaten? We all had dinner together.”

“I picked up some egg custard tarts at the last port.”

“You dumbass,” the soldier sighed, sounding entirely unsurprised. “Of course they were bad, that was two weeks ago. You owe me one, Terong. Go take a nap.”

“Thanks…. One last thing. Could you help me there? I’m a little light-headed. I don’t want to fall down and have Zhao throw me overboard for clumsiness or something.”

“Yeah, that’s valid,” the soldier agreed. He looked around for bystanders, and when there were none, put Zuko’s arm around his neck and wrapped his own arm around Zuko’s waist before guiding him to his room, quite helpfully showing him exactly which room was his. He even opened the door for him and helped him get into bed. “Feel better soon, buddy.” He walked back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Zuko sighed in relief. So far, so good.

 

 

He was able to glean more information about Terong and his post by leaving his room to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, waiting until he heard footsteps in the hallway outside, leaving the bathroom and asking casually if he’d been missed at his post today. The soldier he’d asked had laughed so hard he’d had to muffle the sound with his fist for a good few seconds. Then he’d answered, “Terong, you cocky son of a bitch. You better be careful once you’re done with this internship, because the governors you’re going to be working with aren’t going to appreciate your attitude like we do.”

Zuko tried as hard as he could to react appropriately to this new information. “Thanks for the tip,” he said nonchalantly enough that the soldier could choose to interpret his tone as either appreciative or sassy. Hopefully he would simply interpret it in a way that fit with his understanding of and experience with Terong.

The soldier didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. He merely chuckled and clapped Zuko’s shoulder, shaking his head fondly as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Zuko walked back to Terong’s room and collapsed on the bed, thanking the spirits that his request to the thin soldier early had been vague. ‘Cover for me’ could have meant either to take over his job for the day, which was how he’d meant it, or to make up an excuse for his absence, which was probably how that soldier had actually taken it.

It was a good thing Zuko had so much background information on the inner workings of the Fire Nation, because someone else in his position might have been completely lost. The offspring of nobility who were to inherit their parents’ prosperity and power were expected to spend at least four years in some form of military so that they knew what they were talking about. The idea was nice, but it usually failed because the offspring ended up getting coddled throughout their service and came out of the experience with no idea what war was really like. On a rare occasion, a noble heir who was either prodigious in some field or the offspring of someone really important would be allowed to intern with some form of military leadership before they reached the age of majority so that they wouldn’t have to waste time on the frontlines like some common peasant. Terong must have been both to be interning with someone as high-up as Zhao.

He had a new problem now. If Terong had been interning with Zhao, then Zuko could not possibly continue to stake his life and mission on Zhao not noticing that Terong wasn’t aboard the ship. He’d have to leave the ship at the earliest opportunity and find another way to get rid of Zhao and capture the Avatar.

 

 

Zuko waited until morning to begin investigating a way off of the ship.

He was very, very, very glad he did.

“The North Pole?” Zuko repeated Zhao’s words, hoping his interest sounded more curiosity-based than personal. “You’re referring to the Water Tribe?”

Zhao clasped his hands together and rested them on the table in front of him. “Yes. It’s about time we took over that territory anyway. Since I’m sure the Avatar is going there, now is the perfect time.”

“You’re right. I mean, of course you are, sir. Why has it taken us so long to take over, if you don’t mind my asking?” There. That seemed like a pretty diplomatic way of asking what had changed; the Northern Water Tribe was one of the few places in the world that the Fire Nation had yet to touch, along with places like Omashu and Ba Sing Se, so Zuko personally would have considered the Avatar's presence a reason _not_ to invade.

“The Northern Water Tribe is still full of waterbenders and warriors,” Zhao cautioned. “They are not to be underestimated. However….” He smirked. “I know exactly how to disable half of their fighting force.”

“ _Disable?_ ”

“Where do firebenders draw their power from, Terong?”

“The sun.”

“So where do waterbenders draw their power from?”

“The moon?”

“Precisely.”

“…I… still don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, Terong. I’m going to kill the Moon Spirit.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped, and he felt quite justified in allowing it to do so. “But… _how_?”

“In a library long ago in the middle of the Si Wong Desert, I learned of a spirit oasis in the middle of the North Pole, within which the Ocean and Moon Spirits reside. During our invasion, I’m going to make my way to this spirit oasis and kill the Moon Spirit. No waterbender will ever be able to use their power again.”

“Admiral Zhao, sir, that’s genius,” Zuko assured him, filling his voice with as much admiration as he could. _I’m going to murder you soon,_ he thought absently to appease his inner bloodthirst. “You’re going to be a legend.”

“Thank you, Terong. That’s kind of you to say,” Zhao preened. “Now, you’re dismissed. Don’t forget to practice your firebending before we reach the North Pole. Before I kill the Moon Spirit, you’re going to be fighting many waterbenders in their natural habitat. Getting there isn’t going to be easy.”

Zuko nodded vigorously and strode from the room at a calm, average pace. He blanked his mind until he reached his bedroom, where he proceeded to panic. _What can I possibly do now?_ he demanded of himself, pressing his face into a pillow. _This is a disaster. I can’t let Zhao_ end waterbending _. I have to stop him somehow. I… I have to follow him all the way to the North Pole. No one else knows about it. It’s all up to me. But there’s still no way I can pretend to be Terong all the way there, and I definitely can’t hide because if Terong suddenly goes missing, he’s important enough that they’ll turn the whole ship – no, the whole_ fleet _upside down in search of him._

_Unless they don’t think he’s aboard the ship at all._

Zuko took the rest of the day to subtly inspect the ship for weak spots and make a mental map of it. Then, that night, he took off the armor and uniform and folded it, leaving it on Terong’s pillow. He snuck down to the pantry and stole a suspicious and noticeable amount of food. He visited the cargo bay and stood above a small section that echoed oddly when his foot tapped against it. He carefully used his finger to burn thin lines a large square in the section deep enough that the square was removable. He went back to the bedroom and collected all of Terong’s belongings. He carried them to the hallway, melted through a Terong-sized hole in the side of the ship, and tossed them overboard. He took his own belongings, including the money he’d stolen from Terong, to the cargo bay. He lifted the square. He climbed inside with his things, flattening himself uncomfortably on his stomach between the floor of the cargo bay and the floor of the extra layer in case of a firebending accident, and finally, he pulled the square back over him to cover it.

Hours later, his lips were tugged into a triumphant smirk as Zhao’s shriek echoed throughout the ship.

“ _What do you mean he abandoned ship_?!”

 

 

That had to be Zuko’s absolute least favorite way to spend a two-day trip, but it got the job done. He felt the ship come to a stop and heard the men running off to attack the Northern Water Tribe. Now came the hardest part. He ensured that his knife and money were secure in his satchel, that his mask was secure on his face, and that his swords were secure on his back, and then, clutching his satchel tightly to his chest, he melted through the floor in front of him as fast as he could. Water rapidly rushed into the area surrounding him. Taking a deep breath, he dove into the water beneath the ship and swam one-handed out from under the ship, then up to the surface. In the chaos, those around him barely noticed his arrival, instead opting to fight for their lives against whoever was currently opposing them. He released his satchel, allowing it to hang at his side.

At first he ran for the center of the pole, having no other ideas about how to find the spirit oasis. Luckily, someone grabbed his arm and tugged him to the side. “Blue, is now really the time to kidnap Aang?” Suki teased, looking happy to see him.

“Zhao’s going to the spirit oasis to kill the Moon Spirit,” Zuko gasped out without preamble, so relieved to see a friendly face that the words came spilling out of their own accord.

Her eyes widened. “ _Spirits_. Okay, come with me.”

Suki led him swiftly through the ensuing battle, dodging between Fire Nation and Water Tribe soldiers alike. “Thanks for coming, Blue,” she called to him over the sounds of fire, water, and clashing weapons. “I mean, you didn’t have to stick your neck out just to save the Moon Spirit.”

“Yes, I did,” Zuko disagreed firmly.

Suki cast a grin over her shoulder at him. “Right. You _are_ a good person, Blue. Even if you’ve got some weird obsession with kidnapping Aang. I’m sorry that I keep forgetting that.”

For a second Zuko thought she was mocking him, but her voice was entirely genuine. He didn’t understand how anyone could consider him a good person, especially knowing as little as she did of his reasons for hunting the Avatar. “You don’t have to be a good person to try and stop Zhao from killing the Moon Spirit. That’s just common decency.”

“You have a strange idea of ‘common,’” Suki shot back. Before he could answer, they reached a garden and pool surrounded by ice walls. “Here we are. And it looks like Zhao’s not here yet, either.”

“He won’t be for a while, hopefully. I don’t think he knows exactly where it is.”

Katara looked up from where she sat beside Sokka and Aang, the latter of which appeared to be meditating while his tattoos glowed, along with a girl about Zuko’s age with striking silver hair. “You can’t move him,” Katara told Zuko immediately, placing a hand protectively on Aang’s knee. “He’s in the Spirit World – if you move him now, he might not be able to find his way back to his body.”

“You really think Suki would lead me right to Aang if I was here to kidnap him again?” Zuko retorted.

Katara blinked cat owlishly at him. “…I was talking to _both_ of you… I was just letting you know.”

Before Zuko had the chance to feel sheepish about his defensiveness, Suki announced, “Blue said Zhao’s coming to kill the Moon Spirit.”

The unfamiliar girl shot straight up, looking alarmed. “No,” she gasped. “He can’t!”

“Not if we don’t let him,” Zuko agreed, unsheathing his swords.

“That’s if Zhao can even find this place,” Katara pointed out reasonably. “Am I wrong in thinking we’ve probably got a little time?”

“Probably not,” Suki conceded.

“So…, sit down, guys. Tell us how you found out.”

Suki plopped onto the ground next to Sokka, and Zuko followed suit more sedately on Suki’s other side. “How _did_ you find out, Blue?”

“I impersonated a soldier aboard his ship and he told me himself.”

All of their jaws dropped. “You snuck onto Zhao’s ship?” Katara exclaimed.

“That’s terrifying,” the other girl breathed in shock.

Suki patted Zuko’s back, grinning ear-to-ear. “You, Blue, are a _badass_.”

“Language,” Katara muttered absently.

“Hey, I’m older than you!” Suki complained.

“Why would you do that to begin with? You didn’t know about the Moon Spirit until after you impersonated one of his soldiers, right?” Sokka asked.

Zuko scowled. “Zhao needs to be taken care of once and for all. I… without my mask, I have history with Zhao. And a couple other very, very important people in the Fire Nation. And as you know, Suki, I have a pretty memorable face. June teamed up with Zhao to catch me and Aang, remember? She told him what I looked like, so now Zhao knows who I am, and after I got caught rescuing Aang – well. The Blue Spirit is now wanted. No more running around in public in this mask unless I want to start a riot. And now that he knows who I am, now that he has an excuse to imprison me, he’s never going to stop hunting me.”

“What did you _do_?” Katara inquired.

“…I can’t tell you that.”

“What? Why not?”

“I can’t tell you that either.”

An awkward silence fell over them as Suki, Katara, and Sokka were forcibly reminded of just how little they knew Zuko. Only Suki even knew his age. Eventually Sokka said, “By the way, man, I never got the chance to thank you for getting my boomerang. It’s really important to me. I actually took it from a Fire Nation soldier the day… uh…” He glanced at Katara, who smiled softly and bitterly and finished, “the day our mother died.”

Zuko didn’t know what to say to that. ‘Sorry for your loss’ and ‘My condolences’ seemed a little hollow. He slowly reached his hand into the pocket under his belt and retrieved his knife, holding it out in front of him. “My uncle gave me this when I was ten,” he revealed. “It was a souvenir from Ba Sing Se. He… His son died in the war. Four years later he killed himself. This is all I have left to remember him by.”

“How touching.” Zhao stepped into the oasis, followed by five Fire Nation soldiers, as Zuko, Suki, Sokka, and Katara leapt to their feet and readied themselves with their weapons. “It’s a shame you’re about to follow him.”

Suki dove into the fray, slashing one of her fans at a soldier who ducked under and counterattacked with a blast of fire. Zuko didn’t see what happened next because two soldiers threw themselves at him with a barrage of firebending. He quickly put the hilts of his swords together and twirled them in front of him, dispelling the fire. Then he swiped at both of them with either sword, forcing them backwards. One of them recovered faster than the other and lunged for him again, but Zuko ducked under their flames, sliced their shins, and used their back while they fell as a stepping stone to propel himself over the flames of the other soldier. He landed awkwardly on their other side, his right foot burned, and ducked as Sokka slammed his machete into the back of the soldier’s helmet. Zuko dodged around Sokka to swing his blades into the side of a soldier who faced Katara as she froze two fireballs in midair.

“That’s quite enough of that,” Zhao declared smugly. All four of them turned to him and saw him holding Yue by the back of her neck. “Unless you want the princess to die, you’ll surrender.”

“We _can’t_ ,” Suki whispered in horror.

“We have to,” Katara countered.

Zuko didn’t know what they should do, but when Katara let all of her water fall to the ground and Suki and Sokka followed suit with their weapons, he had no choice but to drop his swords. Maintaining his grip on Yue’s neck, Zhao forced her to her knees, knelt before her, and thrust his palm into the spirit oasis, searing the white fish. Zuko watched the sky in despair as the moon faded to red. Yue squeezed her eyes shut as she began to cry, either in fear or grief.

Then Zhao aimed that same palm at Aang.

“ _No_!” Katara screamed, flinging her hands in a waterbending stance to no effect and then launching herself across the pool at him. Zuko drew his knife at once and threw it so that it landed in Zhao’s wrist. His fingers loosened, Yue threw herself forward onto her hands as Katara body-slammed Zhao away from her and Aang. Zuko picked his swords back up and leapt over the pool just in time to push Katara out of the way of what could have been a fatal fire blast, catching it with just his left hip. He positioned himself between the two of them and snarled, “Don’t _touch her_ – don’t touch any of them!” His pulse racing as his revenge neared completion, he slashed at Zhao’s head, feeling intensely satisfied as he cut the admiral’s cheek open.

Starting to look almost worried for the first time, Zhao gestured to his men. “We’ve done what we came here to do! The Avatar can wait!”

“ _You’re not getting away_!” Zuko barked as his retreating back.

He made to go after them, but Suki yanked his shoulder back to face him. “Don’t be an idiot,” she snapped. “You’re injured! Blue, you’re _limping_ , for spirits’ sake!”

Zuko looked down to see his right boot singed and a patch of his shirt on his left side seared right off. He looked back up, his pain dulled by adrenaline. “I have to go after him.”

“Live to fight another day,” she urged him.

“He killed the Moon Spirit!” Zuko shouted at her, incensed. “ _He killed my mother_! He stabbed her in the chest, he _twisted_ , and he left her there in that alley to _bleed to death_!” He shoved past her and ran from the spirit oasis.

It took only a few minutes to catch up to Zhao. He threw himself at Zhao, his swords aimed directly at the admiral’s chest, but he was knocked to the side by at least three different fireballs. The left side of his body tightening in agony, he fell limply to the ground, the intense pain hindering all attempts at movement. Zhao strode forward, lifted him two or three feet above the ground by the neck, and pressed his hand to Zuko’s mask. Zuko cried out in pain as his mask was set aflame, burning his face too and triggering phantom pain in his scar that blinded his left eye. “Here you have it, soldiers,” Zhao sneered. “The banished prince, a proven traitor. The Fire Lord will be pleased with us, men,” he added to the three soldiers who had attacked Zuko. “You do know the penalty for treason, don’t you, prince?” He leaned forward and whispered menacingly in Zuko’s ear, “ _Death_.” He threw Zuko backwards so that his head crashed into the ice. Zuko reached out with his right hand for the sword he’d dropped and half-heartedly swung it at Zhao, who laughed at him and easily disarmed him. “Clearly he’s still dangerous! What’s the most fitting death for a traitor, gentlemen? Fire? Drowning? Perhaps stabbing with his own sword? Yes, I like that one. That one has a nice ring to it.” He positioned Zuko’s sword so that the point rested lightly on Zuko’s chest, exactly where his mother had been stabbed. “Say hello to your mother and uncle for me, prince.”

The ocean itself reached out and plucked the sword from Zhao’s hand.

Zhao’s men screamed and ran. Zuko craned his neck to look dubiously at them and saw what they were running from; a large, dark blue blob with Aang and his glowing arrow tattoos at its core. Zhao backed away, but Aang rushed forward with an angry roar and scooped him up with one deformed water arm. Zuko watched in numb fascination as Zhao was absorbed into the water blob. The blob slowly reached out to Zuko, mimicking Aang’s own outstretched hand. Barely lucid, Zuko blearily lifted a heavy arm to reach back. As his fingertips brushed the wet surface of the arm, a stampede of footsteps pounded up to Zuko. Aang’s head jerked up to look behind Zuko. Zuko’s arm fell. Aang roared again, an eerily deep and echoey noise that carried far too much weight for a twelve-year-old boy. Then he reached out and brushed against Zuko’s forehead with the tip of his inflated ocean glove. Though his pain receded rapidly, so too did his consciousness. As the ocean rose and tugged him into its depths, the last thing he saw was a group of Fire Nation soldiers being crushed brutally with the Avatar’s supernatural wrath.


	6. Silly Little Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! Trigger warning for a panic attack, dissociation, and a suicide attempt.
> 
> Yeah, this one's pretty dark. This is as dark as it gets though! Well, to be fair, there's another chapter later in the story that could maybe give it a run for its money but even that's debatable. I put a *lot* of research into this one so I hope it doesn't come off as too OOC, but please let me know if it does! This is pretty short, too, because I had a very distinct idea of exactly how I wanted to end it from the beginning, but the next chapter should be pretty long for basically the same reason.
> 
> Chapter title is from Numb by Meg Myers.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 6: Silly Little Monster

_As the ocean rose and tugged him into its depths, the last thing he saw was a group of Fire Nation soldiers being crushed brutally with the Avatar’s supernatural wrath._

The next thing Zuko saw when he opened his right eye was sand. Confusion washed over him at once. _Sand? There’s no sand in the North Pole. Just ice._ Bewildered, he blinked his eye a few times and gingerly pushed himself to his knees, his confusion doubling. Though his muscles were incredibly sore, they didn’t burn with nausea-inducing pain as part of him had expected them too. He took a good look at the left side of his body. No, he hadn’t imagined it; his clothes were charred all the way from his knee to his shoulder, barring his bare hip where his shirt had evidently been completely burned off. Yet there were no burns. Panic began bubbling up in his chest for some reason, rushing his heartbeat. Trying to ignore it for the time being, he looked for the cause.

He was kneeling on a large piece of driftwood that had washed up on a large, abandoned shore surrounded by a thick forest. He strained his ears, listening for footsteps, voices, breathing, or anything besides the sounds of the ocean gently lapping at his feet. He glanced to the right and turned his head to the left to thoroughly inspect his surroundings, but he didn’t see anything suspicious either. He had the strangest feeling that he was forgetting something, but apart from the steady incline of his heart rate, he hadn’t the slightest clue why. Hoping that the feeling would soon resolve itself, he stood and moved towards the forest in the potential direction of some sort of civilization. Then the sound of the ocean waves shifted ever so slightly. Instinct rotated his neck so that his eye landed on something long, thin, and metallic washing ashore just as he had prior to waking up.

Sweating despite the chills running along his spine, he took a step forward, then another, then another. His soul sank deeper and deeper into dread as his heartbeat reached a crescendo unlike anything he’d ever felt before. Finally his legs gave out on him, sending him crashing to the ground beside the driftwood and the new object that had arrived on shore. It was a sword, a dao blade. Just one. Without even thinking about it, his numb, weightless hands flew to his face. Clammy skin pressed firmly against his cheeks, his forehead, his eyelids. No wood, just skin. No mask. _No mask - !_

It was hard to say how long he sat there watching the ocean swallow the sun through his pale fingers. He didn’t want to move. He wasn’t sure he knew how to. His legs still felt weak, like he would need extra support to rise, and he couldn’t – he couldn’t move his hands. He couldn’t. They wouldn’t move, they shouldn’t move, they were exactly where they were supposed to be. His face was in a pile of ashes in the North Pole, and his hands were now the only things he had left. His one blade lay before him as half of a whole sword.

He wasn’t sure when he started hyperventilating and he wasn’t sure when he stopped, but sometime afterwards he finally found it in himself to lower his hands to the ground and push himself to his feet. He took a good, long look at the sword. He walked away from it towards the forest. He didn’t want half of his sword. He didn’t want to be half of himself. He’d rather be nothing at all.

 

 

At dawn, he finally stumbled into a marketplace. Only a few merchants were there, setting up their stalls, and each and every one of them dropped what they were doing and stared at Zuko. His hands returned to his face, but he dragged them back down so that they were at least only covering his mouth. He realized then, as he walked through the mostly empty marketplace with all eyes on him, that he didn’t have a plan. He didn’t know what he was doing there. He didn’t know what he was looking for. Where did he go from there? Zhao was dead, probably, so he didn’t have to worry about that. Of course, the whole reason he’d wanted Zhao dead, apart from the murder of his mother, was so that he could go more or less free as the Blue Spirit. Now the Blue Spirit was – 

His next thought was the Avatar. Capture the Avatar and go home. That was still the plan, of course it was. Why wouldn’t it be? If he was going to capture the Avatar, he’d need to go get his boat and his ostrich horse, Dao. He’d need his food supply, his feed supply, his swords –

Zuko staggered over to an empty stall and leaned against it, grounding himself. Focus. He had to focus. Forget about long-term plans – what did he need then and there? A soft breeze pointed out an obvious necessity; new clothes. But he didn’t have any money for clothes. But wait, he did. He’d stolen plenty of money from the Terong kid who he’d impersonated. Zuko had never actually counted the money he’d gained from that, but he would be willing to bet that the same circumstances which had led to him interning under someone like Admiral Zhao had also led to him possessing an extraordinary amount of pocket change. Sure enough, when he went through the money pouch that was miraculously still tied to his belt, there was almost half as much money as he’d made from that bounty on the murderer Hao in Chin Village so long ago.

A bit calmer now that he’d figured out step one, Zuko walked more purposely through the marketplace, looking for a clothing vendor who was already open. When he found one, he gritted his teeth, forced his hands to fall to his side, and approached to investigate the wares. He tried his hardest to ignore the merchant’s blatant staring. However, the merchant actually spoke up before he settled on some clothes. “Young man, I don’t mean to pry, but is your eye okay? If you need medical assistance, I can point you in the direction of a pretty good healer who should be opening up soon.”

Zuko nearly snapped at the man for his rudeness. Obviously his scar was as healed as it was getting. Anyone with two eyes could see – 

Wait a second.

_Wait a second._

After a few seconds of intense, confused struggling, Zuko finally opened his left eye for the first time since the North Pole. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine,” he muttered. He quickly picked out a cheap but practical outfit and paid. The merchant looked pretty alarmed to receive Fire Nation money, but he accepted it without comment all the same, and that was all Zuko cared about. He found a nice, private corner of the marketplace between two buildings in which to change. Thankfully, it was still pretty early in the morning, so he wasn’t too worried about someone straying closer to him. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with what was left of his old clothes, so he stuffed the scraps into his money pouch.

He went back to the marketplace to inquire as to this village’s whereabouts and discovered he was about six days’ journey from the town where he’d left Dao – or at least, he would be with an ostrich horse or a boat. He’d probably be lucky to get there in two weeks on foot. He wondered just how long he had been unconscious on that drift wood for after Zhao’s invasion of the Northern Water Tribe. The smartest thing would be to buy another ostrich horse, but he wasn’t going to leave Dao with some stranger unless he absolutely had to, and he didn’t know what he’d do with a second ostrich horse once he had Dao back. In any case, he had to eat no matter what, and he had to have somewhere to put the food when he wasn’t eating it other than his arms, and he had to have somewhere to sleep, too. He purchased a messenger bag and a sleeping bag and as much food as he could feasibly keep in said bag without tiring himself out excessively. He honestly had no idea what to do next, because that depended on whether he prioritized capturing the Avatar or returning to Dao, but it was nearing dusk at that point, so he went into the forest in search of a suitable clearing to set up camp in.

 

 

“Zuzu. Zuzu, wake up. Wake _up_ , dum-dum.”

Zuko blinked blearily at the familiar voice, baffled and wary before he could even figure out why. When he recognized the voice, he shot straight up and leapt out of his sleeping bag. “… _Azula_?”

She lifted her hands to shoulder level on either side of her, palms facing the sky. “The one and only.”

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“So rude. A ‘hello’ back would have been nice.”

“…Hello.”

Azula sighed. “I see your years away from home haven’t improved your manners.”

“How would they?” he retorted. “Home was more civilized than anywhere I’ve been since.”

“Fair enough. As it so happens, that brings me to my reason for coming. I’m sure you didn’t think this was a social call.”

“I’ve never known you to make one of those.”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right. I’ve come with a message from Father. He’s decided that family is more important now than ever before. He’s heard rumors, you see, of a plot to overthrow him. He’s realized that family is the only thing you can trust, the only thing you can truly rely on. He regrets your banishment, and he wants you home.”

Zuko’s heart leapt into his throat. “…He… home…?”

“Yes, brother. Home.” She seemed quite amused with his reaction. “Well? Are you coming?”

“What? You mean, _now_?”

“Well, why not? What’s stopping you? My ship is waiting for us nearby.”

“This is all so sudden.” Zuko stared at her. “I don’t know what to say.”

Azula huffed. “Why must you overthink everything? A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice, or just a ‘yes,’ or even just a _nod_.”

“You’ll have to forgive me if I find this hard to believe,” Zuko retorted. “Father doesn’t generally change his mind.”

“Well, he made an exception,” Azula snapped. “Why are you being so obstinate about this? If you’d rather continue living like some common peasant, then by all means, continue. I won’t stop you.” She glared at him for a few seconds. “I’m going to count to ten. If you haven’t started packing by the time I’m done, then I’ll leave you here to find your own way home when you come to your senses. I didn’t come all this way just for you to reject Father and me out of paranoia.”

“Alright, alright,” Zuko grumbled. “Thank you, Azula. I appreciate you coming to get me.” Something still felt off, but he could hardly turn down the chance to go home without having to derail Aang’s life in the process.

Azula smiled benignly, or at least as benignly as Azula could possibly smile. “It was my pleasure, brother. Little though I expected it, I found your frequent inane comments and naïve short-sightedness to be preferable to boredom after some time. I won’t mind having you home again too much.”

Zuko quickly packed his things up, ignoring Azula’s disparaging commentary (“What are you going to do with that? We have plenty of food at home. That sleeping bag is terrible quality, you can pick up a better one at home if you decide to go camping.”) They headed to the shore in companionable silence, and within a few hours they were boarding a Fire Nation war ship even more impressive than Zhao’s. The soldiers aboard the ship stopped what they were doing to salute both Azula and Zuko, a sign of respect that thoroughly jarred the latter.

Azula led him to the bridge, where the captain awaited them. “Are we ready to depart, your Highness?”

Azula exchanged an almost excited glance with Zuko, whose insides were writhing with joy and fear. “Set a course for home, Captain.”

The captain nodded and turned to face the rest of the crew. “You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We’re taking the prisoner home!”

Zuko reacted at once, knocking the captain off of the ship with a well-aimed kick and removing each of the guards who charged him with a quick blast of firebending each in rapid succession until it was just him and Azula on the ship. “You’re so gullible, Zuzu,” she crooned, entirely unfazed by this turn of events. “I almost had you, too.”

“ _Why_?” he demanded, facing her with his back straight and his chin high. “After all these years, why now? What changed? I at least deserve an explanation.”

“You don’t deserve a damn thing, but I’m feeling generous, so I’ll tell you anyway. Father knows you sided with the Northern Water Tribe in the late Admiral Zhao’s invasion of the North Pole. You were seen fighting him by several of the surviving soldiers. In light of that, Father’s decided you can’t be trusted to roam the world freely anymore and must be imprisoned so that you can no longer actively impede our soldiers.”

“You don’t understand,” Zuko countered pleadingly, willing her to hear him. “Zhao was trying to kill the Moon Spirit.”

“…And?”

“If the Moon Spirit dies, the whole world falls out of balance,” Zuko burst out frustratedly. “It won’t be bad for just the Water Tribes. It’ll be bad for the Fire Nation too! The sun can’t exist without the moon. Firebenders can’t exist without waterbenders. The world _needs balance_.”

Azula cackled. “You sound just like Uncle! He always rambled on and on about _spirits_ and _balance_ , but it’s not like either of you ever had any _proof_. It’s just a hunch. You betrayed your own people on a hunch. That’s treason, in case you’ve forgotten, and former Crown Prince or not it will be treated as such. You may as well come quietly.”

Zuko reacted the only way he knew how to; he hit her with as much fire as he could put into one blast and he made a run for it back towards the town. It wasn’t until he stumbled across his campsite that he realized there were no footsteps behind him. Azula had chosen not to give chase. He had to assume she was letting him go now because she couldn’t take him in a head-on fight and imprison him; she would be far more likely to kill him whether she meant to or not. _At least this means Father wants me alive,_ he thought bitterly. _Unlike Mother._

He kept going at a slightly more sedate pace for a few more hours, just in case Azula was still after him. Once he felt even remotely safe, he dropped his things unceremoniously on the ground and collapsed heavily onto a large rock. He hadn’t ever been so confused and uncertain for as long as he could remember. Even if he captured the Avatar, now, it wouldn’t make a lick of difference. He couldn’t make a lick of difference. He had failed to save the Moon Spirit, although somehow Aang and his friends must have cleaned up his mess for it had shone in the sky last night. He had failed over and over and over again to capture the Avatar, to restore his honor and reclaim his birthright, and now there was no chance for him to ever go home and help anyone. The entire war was completely out of his hands now. It would spiral further and further out of control and he would sit there and watch it the way an ant watched a breaking dam.

He felt quite like a breaking dam himself. The future he’d worked so hard for over the past few months, the future he’d dreamt of against his better judgment for years, was gone, dissipating before his eyes like mist in the sunlight. The future he’d resigned himself to as the infamous Blue Spirit was gone too. The Blue Spirit was dead. The Blue Spirit was dead and the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation was dead. And, Agni help him, as much as he’d promised himself that everything he did was for the right reasons, he wanted to go home so badly. He wanted his family back. Hell, he wanted _any_ family at this point. Now he was a wanted man with no allies, no mask, no Dao, no swords –

Oh, but he did. He had half of a sword, and that was all he needed. He left his sleeping bag and his food in the forest and returned to the marketplace. There, he found a vendor to purchase minimal, basic writing supplies from and scribbled, ‘ _Thank you,_ ’ on some parchment. He opened his satchel and dumped a bit of money into it, enough to substantially lessen the weight of his money pouch, and then he rented a messenger hawk and sent it off with the letter and the money.

It was nearly nightfall then, so the moon was high in the sky by the time Zuko returned to the shore he’d washed up on. He couldn’t imagine who would have moved it or why they would do such a thing, so it didn’t come as any surprise that the driftwood and the sword were still exactly where he’d left them. For someone whose life had just fallen apart completely in every way imaginable, he felt oddly tranquil. _Father wants me home alive?_ he thought, kneeling in front of his sword. _Too fucking bad._ He laid his left forearm on the ground, palm up. He picked up his sword with his other hand. He put the blade to his wrist, and he pressed down.


	7. Break Away From Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! Trigger warning for dissociation and suicidal thoughts.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's read, bookmarked, commented, and/or kudosed - I really appreciate each and every one of those. Seriously, guys, you make my day. And to make up for the super short last chapter, this one's extra long :D
> 
> Chapter title is from Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 7: Break Away From Me

“I really don’t want you in the room alone with him.”

“But he’s unconscious! What’s he gonna do to me?”

“Well, ideally, he’s going to wake up at some point.”

“Whatever. Even if he does wake up, why would he hurt me?”

“People do strange and unpredictable things when they wake up in unfamiliar surroundings.”

“So I’ll keep him at arm’s length, then!”

“The answer is no, Lee, and that’s final.”

Zuko stared blankly at the ceiling as a door opened. A woman inhaled sharply. “Oh! You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

How was he feeling? His soreness from his fight with Zhao was almost nonexistent, probably from sleeping in a real bed. Zuko lifted his left arm and observed his bandaged wrist with a sort of detached curiosity. It still hurt, but it felt inexplicably like someone else’s pain. “…Okay, I guess.”

“Well, that’s better than it could be,” the woman remarked. “You lost a lot of blood, but it’s been a couple days and you should be able to stand now. My name is Sela, by the way.” She looked at him expectantly.

“…Xin.”

“Well, Xin, you can join my family and me for lunch, or I can bring it to you so you can eat in here. It’s entirely up to you.” Zuko considered her for a few moments. Part of him wanted to be alone, but if he wasn’t sorely mistaken, this woman and her family had saved his life and provided him shelter, and now they were providing him food as well. The polite thing to do would probably be to at least eat that food with them. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, eliciting a pleased smile from Sela. She led him to the dining table, where a man and a young boy already knelt.

While Sela set a place for him, the boy exclaimed, “You’re up! Hello! My name’s Lee. What’s your name?”

“…Uh, Xin.”

“Where are you from?”

“…Uh, around. I… travel. A lot.”

“That’s so cool! Why do you travel so much?”

“Lee, that’s enough,” the man reprimanded. “Hello, Xin. My name is Gansu. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Zuko replied.

Sela sat down again and they began to eat. Zuko was surprisingly hungry – although maybe that wasn’t so surprising. He had gone from several weeks of barely eating to at least a few days unconscious to two days of barely eating again to another few days of unconsciousness. Still, he did his best not to eat too quickly. He knew the risks of gorging himself on food when he wasn’t used to it. “Hey Xin, where’d you get that sword?” Lee asked. “It’s _super_ cool.”

Both Sela and Gansu flinched, and that was when Zuko knew that they both knew exactly what he’d done with that sword. However, he found himself virtually unaffected by the mention of it, even the reminder of what he’d lost in the North Pole, as if those memories were somehow no longer his. “It was a gift from the man who taught me how to use it, as a reward for completing my training under him.”

All three of them looked at him in surprise. “Whoa,” Lee breathed. His whole face lit up. “Ooh, ooh, could you teach me?!”

“Uh….” Zuko glanced nervously at Lee’s parents, who seemed rather bemused. “Maybe… Maybe later.”

“Okay!”

“So Xin, tell me about yourself,” Sela invited.

“…Like what?”

“Lee, hush,” Sela told her snickering son. “What do you for fun?”

“…I…” Zuko searched himself for answers. When was the last time he’d done something for fun? “I… make tea, sometimes.”

“That’s not fun,” Lee objected.

“Lee, hush,” Sela repeated more enthusiastically. “Making tea is absolutely fun.”

“Whatever.” Lee finished his food and got up. “I’m going to Bonoh’s house, okay?”

“Wait a second – “

“That’s fine, dear,” Sela interrupted her husband. “Be back by dinnertime, okay?”

“Yes, Mom!” Lee scampered off.

Sela turned to Zuko. “Would you mind bringing some of these dishes to the kitchen please? I’ll be out in just a moment with the rest of them, and I’ll show you our tea-making supplies.”

Zuko knew a dismissal when he heard one. He nodded and collected as many of the dishes as he could carry before transporting them to the kitchen. He hesitated, unsure of what would be considered the most polite course of action, before determining that washing the dishes couldn’t possibly be construed as rude. As he was halfway through, he heard Sela exclaim, “Oh, you didn’t have to do all that!”

“You cooked,” Zuko pointed out mildly.

Sela smiled. “Well, you’re not wrong. Still, I didn’t mean to put you to work as soon as you woke up.” Zuko shrugged. She set the dirty dishes on a nearby surface and laid a hand on Zuko’s busy arm, tugging him gently away from his task. “Come on, let’s make some tea. What’s your favorite kind?”

“Don’t have one,” he grunted.

She gave him a strange look. “Really?” He nodded. “Well, let’s just make jasmine tea, then. That’s what I have the most of right now anyway.” They set the jasmine tea up to steep for a while and sat in a couple of nearby chairs. “Xin, do you have any friends or family - ?”

“No,” he answered bluntly, sensing where this was going. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’ll be out of your hair by tonight.”

“Now just hang on a moment – do you even know how to change the bandage on your wrist?”

“…No.”

“As it so happens, I do, being the one who bandaged your wrist to begin with. You might be perfectly capable of walking around and washing dishes, but your wrist is by no means healed yet. I can’t force you to stay, but I would consider it extremely unwise to go off on your own at least until your wrist has healed a little more.”

“I can’t pay you. I have no money.”

Sela gave him a look that was somewhere between pitying and sympathetic, but still too pitying for his liking. “I didn’t ask you for money.”

“I don’t want your charity.”

“I’m not offering you charity. Gansu’s back has been acting up lately. If you help him out on the farm for a few days, I’ll consider us even.”

“You’re giving me food, shelter, and medical aid,” Zuko countered disbelievingly. “That’s not even close to even.”

“It’s even enough for me,” Sela disagreed simply. “I am not in the habit of finding young men bleeding to death from obviously self-inflicted wounds and casting them off to do what they like afterwards. You’re no hostage here but you are a welcome guest. Besides, neither Gansu nor Lee likes tea.”

“I don’t like tea,” Zuko muttered mutinously. “I just like making it.”

“Perfect. I like drinking it.” She rose from her seat and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll finish up the dishes and you finish up the tea, okay? Whether you like tea or not, I fully expect you to have a cup with me afterwards.” She strode towards the other side of the kitchen where the dishes awaited her. Zuko still wasn’t completely sure what had just happened, but no matter what Sela said, this seemed an awful lot like a hostage situation.

That night, after attempting to assist Gansu in the farm and inevitably getting in the way and receiving the promise of a proper lesson the following day, Zuko retired to the room that was, for the time being, his lodgings. He hadn’t expected his sword to be waiting there for him, since Sela and Gansu seemed pretty determined to keep him alive for whatever reason, but he still felt vaguely disappointed. All of his emotions, even his anger, had been oddly subdued all day. He wondered if it was residual from the blood loss. He was getting into bed when he heard something heavy fall right outside. It wasn’t exactly his place to go investigate, but there were no voices and no footsteps throughout the house. Perhaps he was the only one still awake. If these people were taking care of him, he really should investigate potentially suspicious activity so close to them. He got right back out of bed and walked out of the house to discover Lee swinging his sword around. He wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, especially since he couldn’t summon the energy to feel much of anything, so he called out casually, “You’re holding it wrong,” and was rewarded with the kid jumping out of his skin and accidentally releasing the sword, sending it flying into a branch.

“I’m so sorry I can explain please don’t tell my parents!” Lee begged him, actual tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

“Tell you what. If your parents say it’s okay, I’ll teach you a little bit tomorrow after I work on the farm with your father. Okay? And I won’t tell them about this.”

“Thank you so much! You’re the best, Xin!” Lee squealed, throwing his arms around Zuko’s waist and pressing his head into Zuko’s chest. Bemused, Zuko stood there awkwardly with his hands in the air until Lee released him and bounded back inside without the sword, not noticing anything strange about Zuko’s behavior. Zuko slowly walked up to his sword, amazed by the boy’s carelessness. Then again, it didn’t seem like his parents had revealed the nature of his injury to their son. It briefly crossed his mind to take the sword and finish the job, but more likely than not Sela would find him and fix him back up before he bled to death, and he would only succeed in costing this family more time and supplies. Besides, he’d made a promise, and he was a man of his word.

That was how he ended up giving Lee a lesson on the proper way to hold the sword the next day, just after his short but thorough first lesson in farming. If he had both swords, or even just a second sword, he would have shown Lee how to use them together. As it was, he decided to teach Lee as though the blade constituted a whole weapon instead of a measly half of one. Sela had been reluctant to let Lee learn until Gansu had pointed out he would never have the chance to put the skills he was building into action, so it was virtually harmless. Now she stood in the doorway watching them with growing fascination and curiosity. “Would you like to try?” he offered on a whim.

She started and shook her head. “Thank you, but that’s not really something for a woman to do, is it?” Before he could tell her exactly how ridiculous a notion that was, she scurried away into the house. Zuko shrugged and returned to his pupil.

The neighbors cast intrigued glances at them throughout the first, second, and third lessons. By the fourth, two of Lee’s friends wandered over and started mimicking him. Sela spoke to their parents on Zuko’s behalf, and suddenly he had a class of three with parental permission.

By the end of his first week there, the class size had grown to five. One kid’s mother, Lavon, came early to pick her daughter up. “Hello,” she said to him, which was new. People didn’t go out of their way to talk to him. He supposed he did give off a bit of a loner vibe, which he had, of course, been cultivating since his mother died. The kids’ parents tended to go to Sela or Gansu if they wanted to talk about the ‘class’ Zuko taught.

Zuko blinked at her a few times. “…Hi.” She seemed perturbed by his lack of enthusiasm for the conversation, so he tried to think of a way to remedy the situation. “…Er…, would you like some tea?”

“Oh!” Lavon smiled, more relaxed now. “That would be lovely.” She followed him through the house to the kitchen and sat at one of the chairs while he brewed the tea. While it steeped, he considered finding some busy work that would prevent him from having to sit down and interact with her, but then she started talking again, and it seemed politer to just sit down and deal with it. “Holi seems to be doing well,” she remarked, referring to her daughter.

“Yes, she is. She has surprising muscle coordination for someone so young. She’s taken to the ‘classes’ like a turtleduck to water.” He kept an eye on the five of them through the window. They were still practicing the form he’d taught them just before Lavon arrived.

“She does, but that’s not what I was referring to. Holi doesn’t spend a lot of time with children her own age. It’s nice to see her getting along with her peers.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell at all. I’m glad to hear it’s having some impact beyond more realistic fake fights with tree branches.”

Lavon chuckled. “I’m glad too. I appreciate what you’re doing here – babysitting these rascals and teaching them how to defend themselves and facilitating their friendships all at the same time. It doesn’t seem right that you’re doing it for free, though.” She reached into her purse and retrieved a small pouch which she placed on the table.

Zuko took a second to understand what she was saying. “Oh – no, I couldn’t possibly – “

“I want you to take it. Really.”

He considered rejecting the money again, since it wasn’t really taking anything out of him to teach the other kids while he was teaching Lee anyway, but then he remembered that he still owed Sela and Gansu and that he was still more of a hindrance than a help on the farm, so he forced a smile and nodded, resolving to hand the money directly to his hosts. “Thank you.”

The next day, Sela approached him with an idea. “There’s a few Earthbenders in this town, but not many, and no nonbender really knows how to fight. It would be good to be able to defend ourselves, you know, just in case trouble comes our way. I’m sure many people would pay quite well for these lessons too.”

“What is anyone going to do with sword-fighting lessons?” Zuko pointed out rationally. “Like I told Lavon yesterday, those kids are just using them to have better fake fights.”

“I’m willing to bet you know more about fighting than just swords,” Sela guessed. “Sword-fighting skill has to be built on something, doesn’t it? I heard you tell the kids the other day that the sword is an extension of the arm. Couldn’t someone take the lessons you’re teaching about sword-fighting and apply it to hand-to-hand combat nearly as effectively?”

“That’s true.” Zuko cocked his head to the side. “Alright, I’ll teach this class on one condition; you attend it. You said it yourself; it’s good to be able to defend yourself in case of an emergency, and unless I’m missing something, you’re a nonbender. So you should learn too.”

Sela agreed. The day after, Zuko ventured into the marketplace for the first time with Gansu. The two of them put flyers up for his new class. By the end of his second week with this family, he had a group of fifteen people paying him so they could watch and mimic his movements while sparring and receive his criticism. By the end of the third week, he was holding three classes a day to fit everyone. It was then that he noticed that he was never sent to the marketplace by himself despite knowing it well enough and that he was never there for too long at a time. He confronted Sela and Gansu immediately. “I don’t understand. You trust me to be alone in your house with your son and all of your possessions, but you don’t trust me to go shopping?”

“It’s not about you, Xin,” Gansu hastily reassured him. “It’s about the guards.”

“What about the guards?” Zuko demanded, still feeling a little hostile.

Sela and Gansu exchanged looks. “They’re supposed to be protecting us from the Fire Nation, but all they do is bully everyone around town,” Gansu confessed. “I think it’s for the best that you don’t meet them.”

“Why not?”

“To be honest, Xin,” Sela broke in bluntly, “you’re a bit confrontational.”

Zuko scowled. Even he couldn’t disagree with that, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. “Yeah, well, what’s wrong with that? Maybe someone _should_ confront them.”

“ _No_ ,” Gansu disagreed firmly. “This is why we didn’t tell you, Xin! It’s not a big enough deal for you to get in trouble over it. Just leave it.”

“Fine.”

In the end, it didn’t matter. Zuko had no choice in whether or not to confront the guards because they stopped by the house and approached him in the middle of him teaching the group of kids. They watched for quite a while without saying anything, so finally Zuko turned to them. “Would you like some tea?” That was usually the safest thing to say to someone, he’d learned. No one he’d met in that town had reacted poorly to a proffered cup of tea.

One of them laughed, probably the leader if the submissive body language of his three friends was anything to go by. “No thanks, stranger. I heard you’ve been staying with this family for a few weeks now. Since you’re new in town, let me explain how things work around here. My name’s Gow. This is Mer, Cho, and Raoti. We’re the guards who protect this town, but keeping all of you defenseless villagers safe is hard work. Makes a man hungry, you know what I mean? So as thanks, most villagers give us some food or something like that as payment.”

 _I’m not most villagers,_ Zuko thought automatically, more because it was the kind of thing he would say back to that than out of any actual spite. He waited for the familiar sensation of anger burning in his chest, but there was nothing there. Nothing at all. In the end, these people were ants, just like him. None of them mattered anymore. The world was ending and none of them mattered. He should, maybe, have stood up for himself. That would have been a Zuko thing to do. But the Crown Prince was dead, and the Blue Spirit was dead, and his name was Xin. So he nodded. “Sorry, didn’t realize. I’ll be sure to start doing that,” he answered monotonously.

The guard nodded back, pleased. “Your cooperation is greatly appreciated,” he promised smugly, patting the hammer hanging by his waist in a way that he probably thought was subtle. He and the other guards strode away.

Of course it couldn’t be that easy. Nothing ever was. The following morning, Lee was missing when the three of them woke up. They only had a few seconds to panic, because one of Gow’s men, Cho, swaggered up to them as they exited the house to split up and look for him. “Looking for that little brat?” he sneered. “He came at Gow with a sword. I think it was yours, stranger.” He gestured to Zuko with his chin. “If the kid’s old enough to fight, he’s old enough to join the army. So that’s where he’ll be off to first thing tomorrow morning. Just thought you deserved to know.”

Sela burst into tears, throwing herself into Gansu’s arms and pressing her face into his chest. “What are we going to do?” she sobbed. “We can’t lose Lee too…!”

Now there was something in Zuko’s chest – not anger, precisely, but something cool and dark that was out for blood. “You’re not going to do anything,” he told them. “I’m going to get him back. Tonight.”

True to his word, he snuck out of the house in the dead of night with a pair of kitchen blades. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would at least be enough to get Lee out safely. And himself. Maybe. He hadn’t quite decided yet. He crept through the darkness to the guard station. He wasn’t sure if that was where Lee would be, but it was as good a place as any to start. When he got there, a lamp in the back ignited. Cho blew out his match. Gow and the other two stood beside Lee, who was tied up. “Hello, _Zuko_ ,” Gow barked at him, grinning. He unrolled a piece of paper: a wanted poster with Zuko’s face on it. “This look familiar?”

“What do you want?” Zuko growled.

“Simple. Hand yourself over, and we’ll release the boy. If not….” He stomped the ground and curled his tightly-clenched fist into his shoulder, earthbending a large piece of ground into the air above Lee’s head. “I can’t promise this rock won’t just… _fall_.” He laughed like he’d said something hilarious. Clearly he’d never met Azula, who was doubly as amusing and four times as terrifying.

Still, while the other three guards looked like idiots who barely knew a blade from a hilt judging by their fighting stances, Gow did look at least mildly threatening. Zuko didn’t know how much training he’d had, he didn’t know how powerful an earthbender he was, and he didn’t know how much his threat was worth. With any of those three factors in question, it was too dangerous to risk Lee by fighting him, especially with a pair of knives instead of real swords. Zuko threw the knives to the ground. “Fine. Let him go.”

They released Lee, who ran up to Zuko and stood beside him, facing the guards instead of leaving. “I won’t leave you,” he protested, getting into his own fighting stance despite his shaking. “I won’t let them take you.”

“Lee, go,” he muttered. Lee glared at him and shook his head. Zuko glared back with twice as much force. “ _Lee, GO_!” Lee flinched. Biting his lip as tears formed in his eyes, he turned and ran from the station.

Gow earthbended a pair of columns from the ground to encase both his hands, trapping him there. “That was a good answer,” he declared patronizingly. “See, the woman chasing you, Azula? She’s already on her way here with company. So it wouldn’t have mattered whether you said yes or not.” He clapped Zuko on the shoulder. “That’s something, right?”

Zuko grunted noncommittally.

“Raoti, stay here,” Gow ordered. “Keep an eye on the prisoner. Mer will come by to relieve you in three hours.” Gow, Cho, and Mer left. Raoti sat in a chair nearby and started reading a book, paying no attention to Zuko whatsoever and completely defeating the purpose of his being there. Zuko could easily take him out with a blast of firebending from one of his feet, which Gow had left free in a show of spectacular short-sightedness, but even if Raoti wasn’t there, Zuko had no way of escaping from the earth that chained him down.

He had just begun to come to terms with his fate when he heard footsteps behind him. Lots of footsteps happening very quickly. Raoti shot to his feet in alarm, but soon three of Zuko’s students had burst in and attacked him, easily overpowering him between their power in numbers and their tutelage at Zuko’s hands. “Hold still,” someone shouted in his ear, and two hammers hit the earth on each side of him with enough force to shatter the bindings. Another pupil stood on his left while Gansu stood on his right. “Are you hurt?” Gansu demanded.

“I’m – I’m fine,” Zuko answered, startled.

“Good. Then you can fight.” He grinned sharply at Zuko. “We’re taking back this town once and for all. Coming?”

“Of course.”

The two of them, followed closely by his four students once Raoti was tied up properly, ran outside. The fighting was over already. With the sheer number of people who had come to overthrow the guards, Gow stood no chance even with his earthbending. Soon all four of the guards were in a pile, tied to each other in a well and truly debilitating way. Sela strode forward, her face dark with the wrath of a vengeful mother. “Let me make this clear,” she hissed. “You four just got your asses handed to you. By a bunch of _nonbenders_. When I untie you, you’re gonna scram, and you’re never gonna show your faces in this town again. You hear me?”

“Yes,” Gow gasped. “We’ll never come back, I swear!”

“Good.”

Sela stood. She and a couple others untied them, and the four of them streaked out of the town. As the villagers began cheering, Zuko felt his heart sink. In all the commotion, he’d forgotten something very important. Azula was on her way. He turned to Gansu, something like regret sticking in his throat like a rock. “Gansu.”

“Yeah?” Gansu turned to him, smiling bigger than Zuko had ever seen, but his smile evaporated when he saw Zuko’s face. “What happened?”

“I have to go.”

Gansu’s jaw dropped. “ _What_? What do you mean? We just got the town back - !”

“It’s not about that,” Zuko snapped. “It’s about _me_ , and… the person I was before I got here. Just – meet me back at the house with Sela, okay?”

“…Okay,” Gansu agreed reluctantly. “Don’t do anything stupid before we get there!”

“I won’t.”

Zuko returned to their house ( _Not mine,_ he thought miserably. _The closest thing I’ve ever had, but still not mine. Never mine._ ) and found Lee sitting on the floor leaning against a wall in the front of the house, snoring lightly. He smiled bitterly and continued on to the room he’d slept in for the past three weeks to begin packing. When he was finished, he was drawn back to Lee by a painful twist in his gut, so he settled down next to the kid and waited. Sela and Gansu soon arrived. “What’s this about leaving?” Sela demanded. “I mean, I – “ Her face fell, insecurity and disappointment open in her eyes. “I can’t expect you to stay _forever_ , but this is so sudden – “

“It’s not about that,” Zuko repeated wearily as Lee shifted beside him and rubbed his eyes. “Listen, there’s something you need to know. My name isn’t Xin. It’s Zuko. The truth is, I’m wanted. I’m a wanted man. By the Fire Nation, specifically a girl named Azula. She’s young, but she’s so, so dangerous. And she’s on her way here now. Gow sent her a messenger hawk telling her he’d caught me. That’s why he took Lee in the first place.”

“Oh, no,” Sela breathed. She looked around wildly as if she could summon an answer through desperation alone. “There – No. You can’t go. There has to be another way.”

“Sela, there _isn’t_ ,” Zuko told her softly, willing her to understand. “I have to go, before you three get caught in the crossfire between the two of us.” _Literally._

“We’ll go with you,” Lee burst out, sniffling.

“You can’t.” Zuko shook his head. “It isn’t safe, Lee.”

“So? You taught me how to fight! You taught us all how to fight! We can keep each other safe!”

“Azula is a firebender, Lee. She’s one of the most powerful firebenders in the world. Her fire burns so hot that it turns _blue_. Lee, she bends _lightning_.”

“So what will you do?” Sela asked, tears running down her cheeks. “How will you escape from her?”

“They want me alive,” Zuko answered grimly. “She can’t apprehend me herself without killing me. So I’ll start running and I won’t stop running. And when she gets here, you tell her everything, okay? Nothing you know about me is worth lying to her. She can tell. She can always tell.”

Sela and Gansu knelt in front of him and Lee and pulled the two of them into a tight, emotional group hug. Zuko awkwardly participated, gingerly putting one arm around Gansu and the other around Lee. When everyone pulled away, Sela took Zuko’s hands in hers. “Come back to us, okay?”

“How – ?”

“I don’t care how. You find a way, and you do it, okay? Someday, someday when it’s safe, you come back to us. That day will come. It has to. We have to believe it will. So don’t you dare give up, Xin, or Zuko, or whatever your real name is!”

“I’ll never give up without a fight,” Zuko promised reluctantly, _again_ going unspoken but hanging in the air between them.

Sela packed up some food, tea, and money to send with him in a backpack with a small pot and two cups as well, ignoring his weak protests. Zuko walked out of the house, walked out of the town, and didn’t let himself look back.

 

 

Zuko didn’t know what he was doing. Confusion was becoming all too familiar a feeling to him, and he didn’t like it at all. Without that family, he was just as purposeless as he had been three weeks ago. The only difference was that he carried the crushing weight of his promise to Sela on his shoulders now. He briefly considered going back up north to retrieve Dao, but the ostrich horse was probably much happier where he was than he ever would be or, indeed, ever had been with Zuko. His next thought was to look for the Avatar and his friends again simply out of habit, but he would just endanger them the way he’d endangered that family.

He wondered just how much of a fight he had to put up in order to fulfill his promise. He would run out of food eventually, and he couldn’t very well show his face in a town when his face was on wanted posters. Surely Sela wouldn’t have wanted him to steal from someone in order to secure his own survival. At this rate, whether he liked it or not, he wasn’t sure he was capable of preventing himself from starving to death at some point. There was nothing for him to do, nowhere for him to go, no one for him to go to. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that no matter how you looked at it the only thing left in his future was death.

But a promise was a promise. Tonight, he would keep breathing. He set up camp for the day despite the early time, exhausted from having been up all night. He’d walked for all this time in honor of his promise, aware of Azula somewhere in the distance behind him, but he had been awake for so long and he thought that maybe if he took a break now and it got him captured, it could still count. He was just about to start eating when he heard someone stomping nearby, too loudly for him to justify ignoring. However, no sooner had he risen from the ground than he was thrown across the camp by the ground itself. Groaning, he lifted his head to see a young girl scowling suspiciously at nothing in particular. The two of them sat there in tense silence for quite a while. Then Zuko decided, dangerous though she obviously was, if she’d wished him harm she likely would have caused it by now. So he fell back on his favorite icebreaker. “Would you like some tea?”

She narrowed her eyebrows incredulously. “…Sure, why not?” she sighed. She kicked the ground and reformed the earth into two distinctly seat-like formations before plopping down onto one. “Sorry about that. I thought you might be coming to mug me or something.”

“How did you even see me?” he wondered, gesturing to the large rock that had recently been separating the two of them from each other’s view as he sat on the other.

“I didn’t. I felt you moving with my earthbending.” She waved a hand in front of her eyes, which he now realized were startlingly pale. “I don’t see much of anything.”

“That’s pretty neat,” he mused. “Using earthbending to replace your sight. It’s smart.”

“Thanks,” she said dryly, evidently not particularly moved by his opinions.

“What kind of tea do you like? I’ve got jasmine, ginseng, lychee – “

“Whatever, man. I don’t really know anything about tea.”

Zuko shrugged and set a pot of ginseng tea brewing. “So you’re alone too, huh?”

She sighed more heavily. “I guess I am now.”

Zuko tilted his head to the side, remembering belatedly that she couldn’t see him. “What happened?”

“Geez, you’re nosy.”

“I am making you tea, you know,” he pointed out. His words held no heat. It was refreshing to interact with someone who spoke the blunt, brusque thoughts that constantly crossed his mind when he interacted with almost anyone else.

“I didn’t ask for tea.”

“You accepted my offer.”

“Ugh, whatever. I got into a fight with my friends, alright? I ran away from home just to – to help them with their stupid mission and then they started acting like assholes so I left them too.” She crossed her arms, glaring mutinously.

“Did you try to work things out?” Zuko asked reasonably.

“What do you mean, work things out? There’s nothing _to_ work out. I’m not traveling with them if they’re going to act that way.”

“How long have you been traveling with them?”

“I don’t know! A few days, maybe?”

“That’s it?” Zuko hadn’t meant to ask so condescendingly, but he couldn’t help it. That was a ridiculously short amount of time to spend with someone before deciding you were better off on your own. “Sorry, I didn’t – I just meant, you left your family behind to travel with them, right? Don’t you think you should try for at least a little longer before going off on your own?”

“I don’t owe them anything,” she snapped.

“I never meant to imply that you did,” Zuko replied, taken aback. “I think you owe it to _yourself_.”

“ _You’re_ alone,” she pointed out.

“Not by choice.” He hesitated, then, not seeing the harm in it, kept going. “I’m a wanted criminal. Anyone I stay with would be in danger. You’re probably in danger right now.”

“I’ve been in danger plenty of times,” she dismissed. “I’ve spent four years fighting professional adult earthbenders every night for fun. I’m not scared of authorities. I wanna know what you did!”

Zuko blinked at her, bemusedly attempting to register what she’d told him. That was unbelievable. He considered blowing off the question, but once more he couldn’t see the harm in telling her, and it wasn’t like he had anything better to do. “My father is the Fire Lord. I was the heir to the throne until he disowned me and banished me from the Fire Nation when I was… thirteen. Spirits, I was _thirteen_. Who does that to a thirteen-year-old?” he burst out, shocked by the nearly overwhelming wave of anger that fell upon him. “You know he challenged me to an Agni Kai? My own father challenged me to a fight to the death – and when I wouldn’t fight him back, he burned half of my face off! And that’s not even the worst thing he’s ever done to me!”

“Buddy, your dad is super shitty,” the girl informed him. “I mean, even apart from being the evilest evil to ever evil.”

“That’s the most accurate way anyone’s ever described him to me,” Zuko remarked. He poured the tea into two cups and passed one to her. “So, anyway, I was thirteen, my dad kicked me out of the entire country, and I didn’t have any money but I did have a pair of swords so I bought a mask and became a bounty hunter. Ever heard of the Blue Spirit?”

“Nope!”

That… was surprising. He wasn’t sure how to react to that. “…Well, I was a pretty famous bounty hunter. But this guy in the Fire Nation killed my mother, so I hunted him down to the North Pole where I found out he was planning to kill the Moon Spirit. I tried to stop him, but I failed. Come to think of it, I’m not sure what happened next. I wasn’t there for that. But my sister, the second ‘evilest evil to ever evil,’ is personally hunting me down now. And she can bend lightning. So anyone with me is in serious danger, greater than you can possibly imagine. She’ll kill anyone who gets in her way, easily and happily.”

“So what are _you_ going to do?” the girl demanded. “I mean, you’re definitely in the most danger.”

Zuko shrugged. “I’m still working on that part. I’m not even sure how I’m going to pay for my next meal once my food runs out. I can hardly go catch criminals and drag them back to the authorities if I’m a criminal myself.”

“What if you go somewhere where the Fire Nation can’t get you?”

“What do you... What, like, like Ba Sing Se?” Zuko’s mind reeled. That hadn’t even occurred to him. Now he was almost resentful of himself for having invited her to have tea with him. If there was a place he could go to be safe, he owed it to that family to go there.

“Yeah!” She perked up. “You like tea, right? Go make tea in Ba Sing Se! That place is barely even in the war, I bet no one will even know you’re wanted.”

“That’s… That’s _really_ smart,” he admitted reluctantly. “But my uncle, the Dragon of the West, nearly destroyed Ba Sing Se. How can I go seek refuge there now?”

“What the hell are you talking about? Who cares what your uncle did? You didn’t do anything to Ba Sing Se, right? You’re not responsible for what he did, or your father, or your sister. You’re your own person, buddy. Hey!” She grinned. “I could go with you!”

“Don’t be an idiot.” Zuko winced. That had _definitely_ come out wrong. “What I mean is, you can’t go with me. I’m not in Ba Sing Se yet – there’s still plenty of time for me to get you killed. Besides that, you have friends that are probably really worried about you right now. You need to go back to them.”

The girl deflated. “…Yeah, I guess you’re right. They _are_ a bunch of worrywarts. I should probably go let them know I’m okay.” She smiled half-heartedly as she stood. “Thanks for the tea, and the advice.”

“Thank _you_ for the advice,” he returned, smiling back. “You… probably saved my life, come to think of it.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I know a survivor when I see one, and you, whatever your name is – “

“Zuko.”

“You, Zuko, are a survivor.” She punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, write me a letter when you reach Ba Sing Se, okay?”

“I will.”

It was only after she left that he realized he never got her name.

 

 

For the first time in a long time, Zuko had a solid plan. First, he was going to visit an old friend who could probably hook him up with a fake passport. Next, he would have to pay a group of sandbenders to take him across the Si Wong Desert. Finally, he would take the ferry to Ba Sing Se, and then he supposed he would make tea like that girl had said. Whoever she was, he hoped she reunited with her friends, and to his surprise, he hoped he’d see her again. That was the most pleasant company he’d had since – well, probably since Aang. With a clear destination in mind, Zuko woke up early the next morning and started walking in the direction of his old friend.

Before he reached said destination, however, he saw a group of Fire Nation soldiers coming towards him. Cursing his luck, he quickly hid behind some rocks while they passed him.

“…finally caught them, and they’re probably going to escape again before we even get back to the Fire Nation, like they always do.”

“Oh, shut your yap already. It’s your carelessness that keeps letting them go. Now that I’m here, they’re not going anywhere.”

“Listen, I admit you’re better at this kind of thing than I am, but it was hard enough when it was just the three of them – and it was hard enough when we had ostrich horses for the carriages! I mean, how are we gonna transport two dozen Earth Kingdom rebels halfway across the Earth Kingdom without ostrich horses?”

“Relax, dumbass! Everything’s under control, alright? Nothing’s changed. We’ll pick up more ostrich horses in New Ozai.” _New Ozai? What the fuck is that?_ “Then it’ll be smooth sailing all the way back home. Now, go tell the first group of firebenders to get ready to start moving the carriages again. The nonbenders have been pushing for long enough.”

Zuko had heard of this before – on rare occasions, when something happened to a prisoner transport caravan and the ostrich horses got loose, the firebenders in the group would take shifts standing on the back of each carriage and using their bending to push the cart, similar to the way Azula used to climb trees by using a blast of fire to push her high enough to reach the next branch. Right now the nonbenders were pushing the carriages manually, but when the firebenders started moving the carriages again, their speed would triple.

_”…two dozen Earth Kingdom rebels…”_

Zuko made a split-second decision. He dropped his bag, threw himself over the rocks, rolled under the passing carriage between the wheels, and grabbed hold of its underside.

He closed his eyes tightly, hardly daring to breathe as he waited to be discovered. When no one seemed to notice, he relaxed minutely. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. When the carriages sped up, he might be able to hold on, but it would be much harder, and it would be virtually impossible to find a way into whatever carriage he was on. He had no way of knowing whether there were soldiers, prisoners, or both in the carriage he was clinging to, but that wasn’t going to change before they reached their destination, and whatever New Ozai was, he wasn’t keen on sticking around to find out. He’d have to risk discovery and take the carriage by force.

His decision made, Zuko pulled one of his knees into his body and pressed his foot against the carriage. He swiftly cut a person-sized hole in the floor and kicked it into the carriage so the evidence wouldn’t fall and be seen by the other soldiers. His blood rushing in his ears for the first time in far too long, he stabbed the side of the floorboards inside the hole, wrapped his legs around the top of the sword where it wasn’t sharp, and used it as leverage to pull himself inside.

_Soldier, prisoner, prisoner, prisoner, soldier, soldier, prisoner, prisoner, prisoner, soldier -_

Having taken inventory of the situation, he drew his sword from the hole and stabbed one soldier in the shoulder with it. He shifted his grip on the hilt as the soldiers behind him reacted and used it as leverage once more to run up the first soldier’s body and push off of his face into a second soldier, narrowly dodging a fire blast that hit the first soldier instead and punching the second soldier in the throat. As the second soldier stumbled backwards, he grabbed him by the throat and shielded himself from two new blasts with his body. Then he threw him into the third soldier, drew his blade from the first soldier’s body, and slammed the hilt into the fourth soldier’s face hard enough to knock him out. Zuko took the fourth soldier by the arms and swung him hard enough to sweep him at the legs of the third soldier, who had recovered. With all four of them more or less handicapped, he shoved each of them out of the hole with ease. Then he got to work untying the prisoners.

One of them grinned way too cheerfully. “Man, that was so fucking badass, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“How about you begin with helping me take the rest of this caravan?” Zuko suggested sarcastically.

“Sounds good,” another prisoner agreed, glaring pointedly at the first.

Someone outside their carriage shrieked in alarm. “ _What happened to you guys_?!”

“Hide along the walls,” the first prisoner said, growing serious. “We’ll take ‘em out one by one. They’ll probably come in from both sides, so watch yourselves.”

Zuko pressed himself to the wall with the prisoners. As the soldiers entered the carriage, with the help, he was able to make quick work of them. They went through the carriages releasing the rest of the prisoners, and then they tied up the soldiers and left them all on one of the carriages. A few prisoners volunteered to guard them while the rest went to get their things. The first prisoner pulled Zuko aside, the second and a third he’d yet to interact with hanging at his side. “I can’t even begin to tell you how glad I am that you were here today,” he told him. “Seriously. This douche has been chasing us for months, but once he teamed up with that scary-looking chick – she really knows what she’s doing. I thought we were done for this time.”

Zuko grunted.

“A word to the wise – you gotta watch your back from now on. Word’ll get back to the Fire Nation about this. I’m, like, public enemy number one out there, and these are enemies number two and three. The Fire Nation won’t forget about you freeing us.”

“Hmm. I doubt that.” Zuko handed him a wanted poster he’d taken from one of the guards. “You can’t be public enemy number one. I already am.”

The former prisoner looked the poster over, a smirk growing on his face. When he looked back up, it was taking over half of his face. “Well, it’s always nice to meet a fellow outlaw - especially one with a bounty like _that_ on his head. Hello, Zuko. My name’s Jet.”


	8. Stray Dog in the Street

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a bit longer! I have a question for you; would you rather get shorter chapters more often or longer chapters less often? I found a good place to stop this partway through, but I wanted to get a few more words and a few more plot points in. Also, if any of you want spoilers, I don't have a problem with giving them out, BUT I'd rather do it on Tumblr than in the comments page. So if you want to know something, go ahead and message me at wwjacksparrowd on Tumblr.
> 
> Chapter title is from Sister Cities by The Wonder Years.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 8: Stray Dog in the Street

_”Well, it’s always nice to meet a fellow outlaw – especially one with a bounty like_ that _on his head. Hello, Zuko. My name’s Jet.”_

“Cool,” Zuko replied. He didn’t know why this guy was still talking.

Jet seemed completely oblivious to Zuko’s lack of interest in the conversation, which was frankly a generous word for it. “This is Smellerbee, and this is Longshot.”

“What did you _do_?” Smellerbee asked, looking impressed.

“Stole the Avatar from them a couple times,” he said simply. “I don’t have the mask anymore to prove it, but most know me as the Blue Spirit.”

Jet laughed in disbelief. “Seriously? You’re the Blue Spirit? You’re practically a legend!”

It wasn’t often that Zuko received a reaction like that, but it was true that he’d done almost exclusively good things as a bounty hunter, and it was surprisingly gratifying to have someone recognize that. Unfortunately, Jet was wrong. “I don’t think you can call me that,” he muttered, eyeing his blade tiredly. “No mask and only half of a sword. I’m hardly the Blue Spirit anymore.”

Jet scoffed. “Please! Of course you are. Look what you just did!”

“Alright, alright, Jet, tone it down,” Smellerbee complained. “Where you headed, Zuko?”

“Ba Sing Se. Now that I’m a wanted criminal, it’s hardly feasible for me to capture other criminals and deliver them to the authorities. May as well get myself to the last safe place left on earth.”

“No kidding,” Jet remarked. “We’re going there too.”

_Oh no._

“Maybe we should travel together!”

Zuko searched for a polite way to tell him he was kind of annoying, but only came up with, “Thanks, but no thanks. I work alone.”

“Oh.” Jet sounded disappointed. “Well, thanks again for getting us out of here. I guess I’ll probably see you in Ba Sing Se!”

“Sure,” Zuko answered neutrally. He hesitated at the look on Jet’s face. _Spirits, it’s like kicking a polar bear puppy._ “It was nice to meet you, Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot,” he offered, and grimaced inwardly at how Jet’s face brightened.

“You too, man!”

“Thanks again for saving us,” Smellerbee said. Longshot nodded his assent.

Zuko hopped out of the carriage and walked away towards the place where he’d left his things. When he picked up the backpack, the three of them were standing around the carriage, discussing something in hushed, urgent voices. On a whim, he chose a path that would bring him past them again and said, “Hey, you three have passports, right?”

They looked up at him silently.

“For the ferry to Ba Sing Se.”

Jet shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Zuko echoed disbelievingly.

Jet shrugged again, grinning. “We always do. We’ve been in worse situations before.”

It occurred to Zuko that he had just risked his life to save these unprepared idiots. It was obviously an unnecessary sacrifice, because they were just going to get themselves captured again before they ever reached Ba Sing Se. He wondered if risking his life for no reason at all was a violation of his promise. _My passport is only a few days away,_ he thought resentfully. _…Just a few days. That’s it._ “I know someone,” he said. “Over in Omashu. He can get us passports.”

“Seriously?” Jet’s jaw dropped.

Smellerbee’s did too. “’Us?’”

“Well, seeing as I just risked my life for you, I guess I’m somewhat invested in your survival now. So if you want to get passports, you’re welcome to join me on my way there.”

Jet was positively beaming at him now. “That would be so awesome, Zuko. Thanks.”

One of the other prisoners approached them. “Hey, you three, we finished counting the money we took from the guards,” she informed Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. “Here are your shares.” She handed each of them a small pouch before turning to Zuko. “This is everything we couldn’t divide evenly, as thanks for saving us.”

“He just gets leftovers?” Smellerbee protested. “Shouldn’t he get an even share?”

“Relax, Smellerbee, it’s more than anyone else got,” she promised. “Some of ‘em had gold.”

Zuko looked inside the pouch she’d given him. True to her word, there was a handful of gold in there, along with a handful of copper and a couple silver. “Thank you,” he said in surprise. Dao flashed through his mind again; that gold would be more than enough to get from there to Omashu to Ba Sing Se with a stop for Dao in the middle, as out of the way as it was. “Say, are any of you planning to use the carriages?”

“No. None of us can afford enough ostrich horses to pull one, so it’s a moot point. You could, though.” She inclined her head towards the pouch Zuko held.

Zuko turned to his three companions, pulling two gold pieces out of his pouch. “I’m willing to buy the ostrich horses to pull the carriage, but when we split up, I don’t want them. Either sell them afterwards or take care of them yourselves, but don’t mistreat them or abandon them. Deal?”

“Wait, you’re just gonna pay for the ostrich horses and give them to us?” Smellerbee stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

“I’m not taking care of them once I don’t need them anymore,” Zuko explained. “So you’ll have to put the work into selling them or the money into providing for them.”

“Deal,” Jet agreed easily. “Best deal I’ve ever heard.”

“Great. Would one of you mind buying them from the nearest village while the rest of us keep an eye on the soldiers? I’d offer, but I think I’m a little more wanted than you guys.”

“Ha! That’s true. I’ll go, you two stay here, okay?” Jet conferred with Smellerbee and Longshot.

“Alright,” Smellerbee agreed.

Longshot nodded.

Zuko handed the money to Jet. “If this isn’t enough, I’ll pay you back for whatever extra you have to spend when you get back.”

“Sure.” Jet held out his own open pouch to his friends, who poured their pouches into his like it was natural. The three of them must have been traveling together for a long time.

Jet started walking, and Zuko, Smellerbee, and Longshot returned to the carriage containing the guards-turned-prisoners as the former prisoners all went their separate ways. They made sure all of the guards were still unconscious before sitting down. “So, ‘Blue-ko,’ what happened to your mask?” Smellerbee asked.

“Did you hear about the siege at the North Pole?” he asked in response.

Smellerbee looked at him like it was stupid. “ _Everyone_ heard about that. The Moon Spirit died and came back to life. That kind of thing gets around.”

“The admiral who was leading the invasion, Zhao, he nearly killed me. He burnt my mask off of my face. I’m not really sure how I survived, to be honest.”

“Well, I’m not complaining!” Zuko forced a chuckle, which seemed to be the appropriate answer judging by the smile on Smellerbee’s face. “What were you doing there?”

“I chased him there,” Zuko admitted. “I was hunting him down for personal reasons when I found out he was planning to kill the Moon Spirit, so I hid on his ship and when the invasion began I ran to warn the Avatar and his friends about Zhao’s plan.”

“The stories are true,” Smellerbee remarked, amazed. “You really are a badass. Is that where you got the scar? Was it Zhao?”

“No.” Zuko felt his brief contentment draining from him. He left it at that, and Smellerbee fell silent, obviously picking up on his mood change.

It didn’t take long before Jet returned atop an ostrich horse with three others in tow. To Zuko’s surprise, Jet immediately handed him one of the gold pieces Zuko had sent him with. “What’s this? There’s no way it was that cheap.”

Jet snorted. “I’m not going to start this partnership by having you pay for our ride. We can and will carry our own weight.”

“But you’re the one getting saddled with them when we split,” Zuko pointed out.

Smellerbee snickered. Zuko responded with a funny look, which was returned. “…That pun _was_ on purpose, right?”

“…’Pun’…? Oh. ‘Saddled.’ No, that wasn’t on purpose.”

“Blueko, we need to work on your sense of humor.”

“Anyway,” Jet interjected, “I don’t consider you essentially buying two ostrich horses for us to be us ‘getting saddled with them.’ True, we probably only would have bought one, but feeding an extra ostrich horse is definitely worth the time saved getting from place to place. So take the money and shut up, alright?”

Zuko did shut up, but only out of surprise at being spoken to that way. He considered taking offense, but that seemed like it might be an inappropriate reaction to being given money, so he decided not to. “…Thanks.”

“Hey, you don’t need to thank me for being a decent person!” Jet clapped him on the shoulder. “We might be outlaws, but I’ve always believed in honor among thieves.” Zuko hummed. “Now, let’s head to Omashu.”

 

 

Naturally, since Zuko and his prevalent bad luck were traveling with Jet and his ‘Freedom Fighters,’ as he’d informed Zuko they were called, they couldn’t even travel for the one day it was supposed to take them to get their by carriage without incidence. Along the mountains they meant to cross to reach Omashu, a Fire Nation blockade was set up. “Of course,” Jet sighed. “Now what?”

Zuko stared intensely at the blockade. “If we were on foot, maybe we could sneak past them. We’d have to leave the carriage here – and someone would have to stay with the carriage, too. And it couldn’t be me, because I’m the one with the connection. If someone’s willing to do that, I’ve got a plan. If not, well, I’ll think of something else.”

Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot exchanged glances, which seemed to be their primary form of communication. Then the three of them turned to Zuko. “Longshot will stay,” Smellerbee told him.

Zuko didn’t bother questioning it. “Okay. So let’s go get ourselves some uniforms. That’s the easiest thing to do. The three of us will lie in wait at the outskirts of the blockade, wait for three soldiers to come by, and take their uniforms. Then we drag the soldiers far enough from the blockade that no one will find them. If someone finds them before we get back, we’re doomed. We get to the other side of the blockade as fast as we can without drawing attention to ourselves – just follow my lead, alright? I’ve got more than enough experience infiltrating the Fire Nation.” _And living there._ “We have to store the uniforms somewhere safe while we’re in Omashu. We’ll need them in order to pass through the blockade again.”

“Okay, sounds like a solid plan,” Jet agreed.

“Yes, I know, because it was mine,” Zuko grumbled.

Jet turned to Longshot. “If we’re not back in… two days? That sound about right, Zuko?”

“Sure.”

“If we’re not back in two days, put the carriage somewhere safe. Do what Zuko said we’d do; get a soldier, stick them somewhere far away, take their uniform. Try to find out whether we’re being held there or not, and if not, go back to the carriage and wait for us for a third day. Then, sneak into Omashu and ask around for our fake names.”

“What are your fake names?” Zuko interjected.

“Mishing and Shoni.”

“Okay. Mine is Xin,” Zuko added to Longshot. He turned to Jet and Smellerbee. “That’ll do once we’re in the Earth Kingdom, but as soldiers, I’ll be Tazo, Jet, you’ll be Jara, and Smellerbee – “ Zuko hesitated. He had yet to attribute a gender to Smellerbee, which hadn’t been a problem until now. “…Listen – “

“I’m a girl,” Smellerbee grumbled, clearly used to his unspoken question.

“Great. Okay, you’ll be Izazi. Those are three pretty basic Fire Nation names.”

“Good thinking. I guess that’s another pro of your experience infiltrating those bastards, huh?” Jet mused. “How much will the fake passports cost, by the way?”

“Twelve silver for one.”

Jet opened his money pouch and started counting out silver pieces into a second pouch, likely one of the two empty pouches from the money they’d gotten from the guards. Once he reached thirty-six, he handed the other pouch to Longshot. Then he turned to Smellerbee. “Ready to go?”

“Yep.”

“Zuko?”

Zuko hummed in affirmation. The three of them set off towards the blockade in silence, which had been exceedingly rare ever since Zuko had begun traveling with the Freedom Fighters. Jet generally talked incessantly. Smellerbee, at least, seemed to share Zuko’s disliking for it. Longshot didn’t speak at all, but he did nod, shake his head, and react through facial expressions, which was good enough for Jet. When they finally reached the outskirts, Zuko whispered to Smellerbee, “I didn’t ask before, but would you mind wearing a male guard’s uniform, if it came down to it?”

“That’s fine.” The three of them waited until a small group of five soldiers showed up, one of whom wore a general’s armor. “Take them or keep waiting?” Smellerbee hissed.

Zuko grimaced, exchanging glances with Jet. “…Take them.”

The three of them leapt out from their hiding places. Zuko went right for the general and got him in a chokehold, positioning the tip of his sword at the general’s neck. “No one moves unless I tell you to or I move too,” he declared calmly. “Drop your weapons. Strip. Hold your hands behind your backs.”

The four soldiers looked to the general in alarm. “D-Do what he says,” the general stuttered, so the soldiers complied. Once their uniforms were all off, Jet and Smellerbee tied them all up, and then Zuko tied up the general too.

“Wait a second,” Jet objected. “Shouldn’t someone take that one’s uniform? He looks kind of important, like maybe he has power.”

“He’s a general, and unless you think you can pull off pretending to be a general, who knows all about this blockade and why it’s here and what each soldier is supposed to be doing, I recommend we leave his clothes on,” Zuko retorted.

Jet winced. “…Yeah, that’s fair.”

Zuko, Jet, and Smellerbee took the uniforms and armor of the soldiers closest to them in build. Then Zuko snatched the money pouches from the five of them and poured all the money into a pile on the ground. “I’m splitting it in four,” he told them. He doubted either of them would object, considering earlier they’d consolidated all of their money anyway, but it would be better to make sure they knew just in case.

“Oh, okay,” Jet replied, surprised.

Zuko finished up and put his share into his money pouch. As expected, Jet took all three other shares and put them into his own pouch, and Smellerbee acted like that was perfectly normal. They dragged the real soldiers off a few yards, steeled themselves, and headed into the blockade. No sooner had they gotten there than another general approached them. “What are you doing here?”

“Heading to Omashu, ma’am,” Zuko answered promptly, saluting her. Jet and Smellerbee promptly followed suit. “We were instructed to go pick up supplies.”

“Hmm.” The general eyed him suspiciously. “We’re not supposed to be calling it Omashu anymore, you know.”

“Of course, ma’am. My apologies.” Zuko’s mind reeled. What the hell did that mean? Was this blockade part of an attempt to take over Omashu?

The general nodded. “Carry on.”

Zuko waited until the general passed before lowering his arm and leading Jet and Smellerbee away. “Why aren’t they calling it Omashu?” Jet hissed.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’ll find out soon,” Zuko hissed back.

Miraculously, they reached the other side without being approached again, but their problems were far from over. “…Who here has actually been to Omashu?” Jet inquired casually.

“I have,” Zuko grunted, looking despairingly at the city that had once been a great Earth Kingdom city and had now been taken over by the Fire Nation.

“Is it…?”

“If you ask me if it’s supposed to look like that, I’m going to stab you.”

“…So that’s a ‘no,’ then?” Smellerbee punched Jet in the arm, hard. “Ow!”

“Now what?” Smellerbee asked Zuko.

“How the fuck should I know?” Zuko massaged his temples. He didn’t know how his life had gotten so complicated. Agni, he should never have gone after the Avatar to begin with. He should have just kept to himself and continued working as a bounty hunter. Everything was so much easier when he was a simple bounty hunter hunting simple bounties.

“Alright, everyone who was living in Omashu has to have gone somewhere, right?” Jet reasoned. “Either they’re still in Omashu living in terror, or they’ve gone underground, or they’ve left. So we go in with these uniforms and we find out where they went, and when we find them, we find out where your friend went.”

“…Yeah, alright,” Zuko grumbled, adding begrudgingly, “That’s a good plan.”

Jet smirked at him. “Yes, I know, because it was mine.”

Zuko supposed he deserved that.

As night fell, the three of them made their way down to Omashu, or whatever it was called now. “Whatever we do, we don’t split up,” Jet muttered urgently as they approached the guards.

Zuko nodded to the guards. “Good evening. We’re here to pick up supplies for the blockade.”

“Oh, perfect!” one of them exclaimed. “The order was just finished. Hang on, I’ll go get it.”

_What._

“Thanks,” Zuko said weakly as the guard darted off, leaving the three of them alone with the other guard, who would surely have backup nearby that would attack them if they attacked him. He resolutely did not look at Jet and Smellerbee, although he did wonder if they were exchanging glances behind them, communicating nonverbally even with masks on. “…So… man, how long has it been since this place got renamed, anyway?” he laughed, like it was a joke. “Feels like forever.”

“I know, right? Hard to believe it’s been New Ozai for almost a month,” the guard laughed back. “Man, I’m telling you, the end of the war is coming. I can feel it. It’s only a matter of time before Ba Sing Se falls too at this point.”

“You’re not worried about the Avatar’s return?” Jet asked in surprise.

“Nah. The Avatar was _here_ , don’t you know that? That’s when Princess Azula renamed it in Fire Lord Ozai’s honor. I was here when they fought. She is absolutely terrifying in a battle,” the guard finished dreamily. “And, I mean, for a kid, he wasn’t bad. But he didn’t stand a chance. That was obvious from the beginning.”

“I’ve seen her fight before,” Zuko remarked, his gut twisting as he wondered what had become of Aang and his friends after that fight. “She’s probably the best firebender in the world after her father.”

“Yeah, no kidding. She was so furious when she found out that the governor let all those resistance members escape with the Avatar and his cronies. I thought she was gonna kill him. It was bad enough when he tried to trade the old king for that kid the Avatar kidnapped.”

The first guard returned with a small bag of stuff. “Thanks,” Zuko repeated as he took in everything the guard had told him. He looked inside the bag and scowled as he looked back up. “Where’s the feed?”

The first guard stared back in confusion. “Uh, the feed? What feed?”

“The _feed_ ,” Zuko repeated, allowing his pent-up frustration to seep into his voice. “For the ostrich horses. The ones pulling the caravan full of prisoners headed right for the blockade. The ones that are going to need feeding when they get there.”

The guards exchanged nervous glances. The first guard said hesitantly, “…There was no feed in the order….”

“Yeah, you try telling our superiors that,” Zuko retorted. “Just forget about it. We’ll go get it ourselves.” He shook his head. “You want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Come on, guys.” He waved his hand, and the three of them strode right past the two dumbfounded guards. When they were far enough away, Zuko whispered, “Now what? I got us in.”

“I’ll figure something out,” Jet whispered back.

Zuko felt like pulling his hair out of his head. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “Well, in the meantime, let’s find some feed. And a wagon, I guess.” They headed for a marketplace, where Zuko approached a feed merchant. “Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where I could get a wagon? I’m gonna need a lot of feed.”

“I’ve got one you can borrow,” the merchant offered. “Free of charge for our nation’s dedicated soldiers.”

“Thank you, sir. Your support is greatly appreciated.” Zuko pulled out his money pouch. “How much for twenty bags?”

“Fifteen copper.”

Zuko slid the money forward, and as the merchant started putting bags of feed into the wagon, Jet yanked him backwards and hissed in his ear, “Why didn’t you just tell him it was for the soldiers?”

“I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention,” Zuko muttered.

“But you just spent fifteen copper,” Smellerbee protested. “And you gave it to _Fire Nation scum_!”

“He’s not getting his wagon back,” Zuko pointed out tiredly. “I’m not getting caught over fifteen copper. Besides, it’s not like we aren’t going to use the feed, and we got it for a good price because he thinks _we’re_ Fire Nation scum.” _He’s one third right, too._ “Just let it go.”

Jet grinned suddenly. “Oh, I’ve got an idea.”

“Go on.”

“Fair warning; it’s a terrible idea and you’re not gonna like it.”

“Thrilling. Go on.”

“Your friend is probably with the resistance, right?”

Zuko thought for a moment. “Yeah, probably.”

“Well… I bet King Bumi knows where the resistance is.”

“No.”

“I’m just saying, it’s an idea.”

“Like you said, it’s a terrible idea, and like you said, _I don’t like it_.”

“Well, then, you come up with something.”

Zuko groaned. “Dammit, Jet. Fine. Let’s go hunt this guy down.” He turned to the merchant, who was just finishing up. “Would you mind keeping this here for a bit? There’s something we need to investigate before we leave.”

“Of course, soldier.”

“Thank you.”

“How can you be so friendly with him?” Jet complained as they walked away. “That Fire Nation man.”

“Relax, Jet,” Smellerbee interjected. “He’s just a merchant. It’s not like he’s the Fire Lord himself.”

“He _supports_ the Fire Lord, obviously.”

“So what is it that you’re offended by? Him supporting the Fire Lord, or him being Fire Nation?” Zuko asked curiously.

Jet threw his hands in the air. “Is there a difference?”

“Of course there is.” Zuko was careful to keep his voice even and casual. “I’ve been all over the world, and there are people everywhere who don’t support their rulers. People in the Northern Water Tribe who don’t support their chief, people in Omashu who didn’t support the king. I’m sure there are people here now who don’t support the governor – hell, that guard back there sure didn’t seem to.”

“Seemed like he liked the princess well enough,” Jet snorted.

“There are two kinds of people who have met Princess Azula; those who worship the ground she walks on, and those who have nightmares about her. Once you’ve seen her in action….” Zuko shivered involuntarily. “It’s not about her being the princess. It’s about her being Azula. Anyway,” he looked around at the abandoned alley they’d stumbled across, “here is as good a place as any to figure out how we’re going to get to the Earth king.”

“Why don’t we just kidnap another Fire Nation soldier?” Smellerbee suggested. “And then, you know, make them tell us?”

“Some random soldier isn’t going to know.” Zuko disagreed. “But….” He glanced up towards the palace. “I know who would.”

“You’re even crazier than I am,” Jet declared admiringly.

Smellerbee put her head in her hands. “I'm the only sane person here. Fine. How do we get up there?”

“Some guards are going to bring us right to their doorstep.” Zuko walked out of the alley and waved down the nearest pair of guards. “Good evening, soldiers. My friends and I were sent by the Fire Nation to investigate the escape of the Earth Kingdom rebels.”

“Again?” one of them groaned. “Someone was here just last week, and two weeks before that too.”

“The Fire Lord likes to be thorough. Success like his doesn’t come from carelessness. We should all aim to be so thorough.”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess you need to talk to the governor, huh?” Zuko nodded. “Alright, I’ll find some palace guards to bring you up there. Give me a second.” The guard ran off.

His partner looked at Zuko dubiously. “Tell me you’re not one of those brown-nosing Royal Family worshippers.”

“Are you implying I _shouldn’t_ worship our esteemed Fire Lord and Crown Princess? They are the most powerful firebenders and most brilliant strategists in the world. I can only hope to do their image justice as I act out their wishes, regardless of my lowly rank.”

The guard stared at him in silent disbelief until the first guard returned with a palace guard. “You’re here to talk to the governor’s family, right? I’ll bring you there.” She led them through Omashu to the palace. “Excuse me, Governor Ukano? Governess Michi?” Zuko’s blood ran cold. “Some soldiers are here to ask you about the resistance escape.”

Zuko subtly shifted behind Jet and Smellerbee and whispered frantically in their ears, “I cannot speak to them. They might recognize my voice.”

Before either of them could question him, the doors opened. Ukano looked much more weary than he had in Zuko’s childhood. “Come on in, gentlemen,” he sighed, putting up an obviously fake smile. He stood back and allowed the three of them to enter. “The Fire Lord has more questions for me?”

“Yes, sir,” Smellerbee said. “If we could speak somewhere private…?”

Ukano glanced around at his wife, toddler son - _That’s new_ \- and guards. “Yes, of course.”

The three of them stepped into a separate room. There was no time to waste. Zuko stepped behind him, removed his belt and unsheathed his sword, and wrapped the belt around his mouth while carefully angling the sword towards a place he probably wouldn’t like to be stabbed – with both hands on the belt, it would be difficult to pin it to his neck as he normally would. “We have some questions for you,” Jet informed him. “Someone brought more rope, right?”

Zuko nodded and gestured to his messenger bag with his chin.

Smellerbee walked over to him and took the rope out. She tied Ukano’s hands behind his back. Zuko tied the belt, pointed the sword directly at Ukano’s neck, and nodded to Jet. “Okay, governor. Tell us where King Bumi is, and everyone gets out okay.”

Smellerbee lowered the belt so Ukano could speak. “…I can’t… the Fire Lord will _kill_ me,” he whispered harshly, tears falling from his eyes. “Please. I have a wife and two kids. _Please_. Just stop this now and I won’t tell anyone.”

“The Fire Lord never needs to know about this,” Jet promised. “We don’t plan to release the king. We just want to talk to him about the resistance.”

“The resistance? What do you want to know?”

“Just want to know where they are,” Jet answered, tilting his head to the side. “What’s the name of your friend…, Tazo?”

Zuko waved Smellerbee over. When she was close enough, he leaned forward and whispered, “Chit Sang.”

“Chit Sang,” Smellerbee announced.

“Chit Sang? The fake passport guy? He – He was captured when we took this city. He’s probably on his way to a Fire Nation prison right now.”

“That’s not very specific. I don’t suppose you have any more information for us?” Jet challenged. He looked pointedly at Zuko’s sword, which Zuko pushed a little deeper, drawing a thin line of blood from Ukano’s throat.

“Th-Th-There was a general named Bujing involved,” Ukano whimpered. “That’s all I know, please, I swear!”

Jet hesitated. “Fine. We’ll make do. I’m going to have my friends release you now, and you’re not going to tell anyone about this, got it? Or else word gets back to the Fire Lord about you helping us out just now.”

Zuko leaned over to Smellerbee again. “His daughter Mai is best friends with Azula.”

Taking the hint, Smellerbee put in, “And then word gets back to his daughter, and her best friend, your daughter Mai.”

Ukano paled. “H-H-How do you know - ?”

“We know lots of things,” Smellerbee dismissed. “Come on, guys, let’s get out of here.”

Smellerbee untied Ukano and put the rope back in Zuko’s messenger bag. Zuko took his belt back and sheathed his sword. The three of them strode out of the room. “Thank you for your time, Governor,” Jet told him smugly. They left the palace and headed out of Omashu, retrieving the wagon of feed on the way. As they traveled from Omashu back to the blockade, Jet said, “Any ideas now, Smellerbee? Zuko?”

“Zilch,” Smellerbee answered.

“Oh, I’ve got _plenty_ of ideas,” Zuko hissed, reaching up to touch his scar under his mask. “Ideas for what we can do with Bujing once we take him down.”

Jet stopped and looked at him in shock. “Is he the guy who…?”

_”What better to use as bait than fresh meat?”_

“He may as well have been.”

“So we hunt down this Bujing guy, we get Chit Sang, we get our passports,” Smellerbee summarized. “Okay. You think that general we tied up earlier will know?”

Zuko grinned sharply. “He just might.”

 

 

Longshot stared at them in wordless amazement as they rolled a wagon filled with feed up to him.

“Yes, I know, we’re amazing,” Smellerbee boasted.

“We still don’t have the passports,” Zuko reminded her.

“Details, details. We will soon enough.” She cracked her knuckles. “We know exactly where he is, at least. Longshot, you’re not gonna believe what happened! Omashu doesn’t even exist anymore! It’s called _New Ozai_ now.” She wrinkled her nose.

Longshot looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah, we decided to keep the uniforms. We’ll look a lot less suspicious riding around in a Fire Nation carriage if we look like Fire Nation soldiers. We got one for you, too.” She reached into Zuko’s messenger bag – without permission, he might add, presumably having decided his permission earlier was permanent – and retrieved the uniform of the fourth soldier.

Zuko took a bag of feed from the wagon, opened it up, and fed the four ostrich horses. Jet followed him over and leaned against the carriage. “So, this Bujing guy. What’d he do?”

“…I can’t tell you that.” Zuko had an odd feeling of déjà vu as he recalled saying the same exact thing to Aang’s friends the last time he’d seen them. He wondered what it would be like to be able to tell people things. He wasn’t sure he could remember a time when he didn’t have secrets – actually, thinking back to the way he and Azula had lived under their father’s thumb, maybe that time hadn’t ever existed at all. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Jet shrugged. “Okay. That’s fair.”

“Thank you for your permission,” Zuko replied sarcastically.

“I was just trying to make conversation!” Jet defended himself.

“Who asks about a scar on a guy’s face as _small talk_? That’s not a conversation starter!”

“Oh, and you’re the expert on small talk? Fine then, you come up with something.”

“Why do we have to talk at all?” He meant it as a genuine question, but Jet huffed and walked off as if offended. Zuko sighed and packed up the feed. He went into the carriage, put his backpack on, and got off again. Jet raised an eyebrow at him as he approached. “Would you like some tea?”

Jet stared at him. “…I don’t understand you at all.”

“Is that a ‘no?’” Zuko wasn’t quite sure what he’d do with that. That would certainly be an unprecedented situation.

Jet stared at him for a bit longer, then burst into laughter. “Sure, I’d love some tea,” he cackled. “Thanks.”

Zuko didn’t understand him either, but he was used to that. He set up a campfire, scooped some water with the pot out of a nearby stream, and put some tea leaves into it. “Would you two like tea as well?” he asked Smellerbee and Longshot. They both nodded, so he put some more water and tea leaves in, and then he set it on the logs to boil.

“So anyway, Longshot,” Smellerbee continued her story as she sat down beside him at the campfire with Longshot across from him, “we found out from that general that they’re bringing Blueko’s friend Chit Sang right to the Fire Nation, and then to the Boiling Rock, some sort of high-security prison in the Fire Nation. We gotta intercept them on their way to the nearest dock.”

“And with our handy new outfits, we might not even have to fight our way in or out,” Jet mused as he sat on Zuko’s other side. “I mean, you’re pretty smooth in a tight spot, Zuko. I bet you can talk our way right in and right out with Chit Sang in tow.”

“That’s crazy,” Zuko objected, but already a plan was forming in his mind. “…Although….”

Jet grinned at him. “Knew I could count on you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“So how’d you know that governor, anyway?” Smellerbee asked.

“I told you his daughter Mai was one of Azula’s best friends, right? Well, I ran into all three of ‘em at the same time.”

“What’s so terrifying about this ‘Azula?’” Jet put in.

“Her fire is so hot it’s blue, and she can bend lightning.”

“ _What_? I’ve never heard of anything like that before.” Jet ran a hand through his hair. “That’s crazy. I’ve never even heard of the Fire Lord bending lightning.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Zuko grunted as he poured the tea into four cups. “But I know she can.”

Longshot took a sip and held the tea towards him, nodding firmly.

Zuko looked askance at Smellerbee, who translated, “He’s complimenting the tea. It _is_ pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Zuko replied, gratified. “It’s the only thing I’m good at, other than catching criminals and breaking into the Fire Nation. It’s what I plan to do in Ba Sing Se.”

“The great Blue Spirit, a teamaker? I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t met you,” she teased. “You’re not nearly as mysterious as people think you are, though. Just awkward.”

Zuko shrugged. “I hope you’re not expecting me to deny that.” She and Jet laughed, and Longshot’s expression conveyed quiet amusement. “You three clearly know plenty about me. Tell me more about you. How did you three meet and become the Freedom Fighters?”

“Jet formed the Freedom Fighters before we ever met him,” Smellerbee explained. “I ran away from home after the Fire Nation took over my parents’ village. I’m probably one of the only Freedom Fighters whose parents might still be alive out there somewhere. But I wasn’t content to lie down and take the Fire Nation’s abuse like they were. I ran into Jet and Longshot and the rest of the Freedom Fighters pretty fast.”

“My parents are dead,” Jet admitted, casting his gaze into the depths of his tea. “Longshot’s, too. Our villages were burned down, and we were the ‘lucky’ survivors. What about you? You an orphan too?”

“Unfortunately not,” Zuko muttered darkly. “My mother died a couple years ago, though. So I guess I’m half-orphan and half-disowned.”

“Geez, that’s rough,” Smellerbee remarked. “I’m sure my parents would take me back in a heartbeat if I wanted them to, but Jet and Longshot are my family now.”

“What happened to the rest of the Freedom Fighters?” Zuko asked.

“Fire Nation happened. The rest of them got away safely. The three of us were the distraction – that’s why we’re the ones the Fire Nation is chasing,” Jet explained.

“So that’s why you’re heading to Ba Sing Se now. You’ve distracted the Fire Nation well enough, and now you're heading to safety.”

“That’s right. It’ll be nice to be safe again,” Smellerbee commented.

Zuko wondered what it was like to be safe.

 

 

They retired to the carriage for the night, taking shifts watching over the ostrich horses. Zuko expected to have trouble sleeping, but found the motion of the carriage oddly soothing, and slept well that night. When Jet woke him for his shift, he felt well-rested. It was on his shift that he spotted the Fire Nation caravan they were looking for up ahead. He headed into the carriage and woke the others. “Come on. Time to get Chit Sang.”

Zuko hid inside the carriage with Longshot while Jet and Smellerbee sat in front. “Good evening,” Jet greeted the guards of the caravan as they pulled up alongside the front carriage. “We’ve got orders from General Mezon of the New Ozai blockade to pull one of your prisoners, Chit Sang.”

“Chit Sang? He’s the one we’re sending to Boiling Rock. You must have the wrong name.”

“No, I’m positive. You can double check with him if you like, but I doubt you’ll receive an answer before you hit the dock, and you can hardly send a prisoner on a boat when he’s wanted elsewhere.”

The guard sighed. “Alright, fine, but what’s your name? It’s falling on your head if you’re wrong.”

“I’m Jara, this is Izazi, and that’s just fine, because I’m right.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Zuko held his breath, exchanging hopeful glances with Longshot. Before they knew it, someone new was being pushed into their carriage. His jaw dropped, as did Zuko’s. He couldn’t believe it was that easy. Nothing was _ever_ that easy.

The carriage started moving faster, presumably as they left the caravan, and Smellerbee popped inside. “Well? This the guy you were looking for, Blueko?”

“Yep, that’s him.” Zuko grinned. “Good to see you again, Chit Sang. You up for making a few fake passports?”

“Ha! For you, after this? Anything, buddy!” Chit Sang grinned back. “…Mind undoing my chains though?”

“Oh, I’ve got the keys. I’ll do it.” Smellerbee went to unlock his chains.

Zuko headed to the front of the carriage. “Now what?” Jet asked. “You still gonna split as soon as we get our passports? I mean, I’ve been thinking about it, and it just doesn’t make sense. We’re all going to the same place anyway, and there’s safety in numbers.”

“I would go with you,” Zuko told him honestly. “You’re right, that makes more sense. But…” He looked away.

“But?” Jet pressed.

Zuko sighed. They already thought he was soft. He supposed it didn’t matter if he confirmed it. “…It’s my ostrich horse. When I went off to the North Pole, I left him with someone way, way up north. I washed up afterwards just a couple days’ travel from where I met you guys. I need to go get him back before I can go to Omashu.”

Jet shook his head. “Man, you just keep surprising me. All that for an ostrich horse?”

“Yes,” Zuko said tersely.

“Hey, no judgment!” Jet held his hands in the air. “I guess I understand him being so important to you if you’ve been alone all this time…, but…, well, how far is that from here, anyway?”

Zuko shrugged. “I guess a few weeks.”

“Listen, Zuko, you’ve really saved our asses here. I mean, you rescued us from the Fire Nation, you bought us these ostrich horses, and now you’ve gotten us fake passports to Ba Sing Se. I don’t know where we’d be without you. So I can’t really speak for Longshot and Smellerbee, but I think they’d agree with me that it’d be pretty rotten of us to let you walk all that way by foot after all that. So if you’d rather stick with us, I’ll have to talk to them first, but I think we’d be perfectly willing to give you a ride there.”

“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” Zuko conceded slowly, surprised. “I appreciate the offer, whether I take it or – stop the carriage!”

“What - ?”

Before he could answer, Zuko yanked on the reins, jerking the carriage to a stop, and leapt out of the carriage. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“What is it?” Jet called after him, leaving the carriage too.

“What’s going on?” Smellerbee asked as she, Longshot, and Chit Sang poked their heads out of the carriage.

Zuko reached out to the bush in front of him with a shaking hand. Hardly breathing, he gingerly lifted a clump of white fur. Ahead of him, a whole trail of white fur led right to a cave, where a pair of eyes, so large he could see them even across the large distance, watched him. “I think I just found another old friend.”


	9. Stranger Crusaders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco. Hope you enjoy!

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 9: Stranger Crusaders

_Hardly breathing, he gingerly lifted a clump of white fur. Ahead of him, a whole trail of white fur led right to a cave, where a pair of eyes, so large he could see them even across the large distance, watched him. “I think I just found another old friend.”_

“Your friend has long white fur?” Smellerbee demanded. “What kind of company do you keep?”

Zuko ignored her, walking cautiously towards the creature in the cave. “It’s okay,” he called out hopefully. “I know you. I’m a friend. Do you recognize me?” Belatedly, he wondered if Appa would recognize him as a friend; he had tried to kidnap Aang a few times before he started saving him instead, but he was pretty sure Appa was only there for the saving-him bits. “Appa? Do you remember me?” He covered his face as he approached. “Do you remember my voice?” Appa answered with a low rumble that sounded neither hostile nor friendly. Zuko kept going, undeterred, and soon he was face to face with the animal. “Appa, can I touch you?” Zuko stretched a hand out first. Appa sniffed it, hesitated for a heart-stopping moment, then licked it. “Good, Appa. You do remember me.” Zuko slowly stroked the bison’s head. Appa was covered in thorns, honey, and boar-q-pine quills, and his six feet were chained together. Agni, he had so many questions.

“That’s the Avatar’s pet?” Jet hissed. He was just a few feet behind Zuko, which was, perhaps, why Appa was so reticent. Jet had mentioned his rather unpleasant history with the Avatar, so it was no wonder Appa might not want him so close.

“Yes. Back up.” Jet backed away slowly. Zuko continued petting Appa’s head. “Appa, we’re gonna find Aang for you, okay?” Appa’s entire countenance lightened at Aang’s name. Zuko laughed, light-headed from the adrenaline rush of discovering Aang’s bison. “Yeah, we’re gonna find Aang, and Suki, and Katara, and Sokka, and Momo too. We’re gonna find all of them for you. Okay?” Appa licked his face, which was not something he’d ever wanted to go through, but he supposed it was a necessary sacrifice. “First we have to get all these quills and thorns off of you, though. And we gotta pick the lock on those chains. No more chains, Appa. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Appa roared happily in agreement. “You want to meet my friends, Appa?”

“Aw, Jet, he called us friends,” Smellerbee snickered from the carriage.

“Chit Sang, he doesn’t know you yet. You come over first.” Zuko heard Chit Sang’s unusually quiet footsteps as he crept towards them. After a few seconds, with Zuko’s hands still stroking him, Appa grumbled begrudgingly and nosed Chit Sang’s hand, which was good enough for Zuko. Zuko sent him back to the carriage and called over Longshot, then Smellerbee, then Jet. It took a while, especially for Jet, but Appa settled down around them well enough that Zuko thought it’d be okay for them to touch him. “Okay, first thing’s first; we need to pick that lock on his chains, and then we need to get the thorns and quills out, and then we need to wash off the honey,” Zuko decided, keeping his voice soft for Appa’s sake.

“What about food?” Smellerbee pointed out, following his example. “I think Appa should eat before anything else.” Appa perked up and roared his approval.

“You’re right. Jet, could you go get some food for him? I don’t know if he eats meat, but I know he eats fruit. Giving him food will probably endear you to him a bit more. Bring my bag with you, too.” Jet backed up slowly and went to get some fruit. When he returned with it, Appa glanced at them all warily before scarfing it all down like he hadn’t eaten in days. With a pang in his chest, Zuko wondered if he really hadn’t. He didn’t understand how something like this could have happened. Appa was a powerful airbender in his own right, and even if separated from Aang, he should have been able to defend himself from pretty much anything. Zuko took his bag from Jet, pulled his lockpick out, and went to work on Appa’s chains. The bison watched him suspiciously but didn’t pull away, and he yelped joyfully when the chains fell off, licking Zuko’s entire body in one fell swoop. “Come on, now, Appa. Let’s leave the cave just a little so we can get all of these nasty things out?” He met eyes with Jet. “You three should probably get out of here. I doubt he likes you that much.”

“Alright, let’s skedaddle,” Jet agreed, and the three of them headed back to the carriage.

Zuko led Appa a few feet further so that he could get to Appa’s sides, at least. Taking a deep breath, he took the nearest quill and gently teased it out of Appa’s skin. Appa moaned unhappily, but rumbled contently when it was all the way out. Zuko painstakingly worked over the rest of his body with the same gentleness, and Appa looked at him like he was Agni’s gift to the world when they were all out. Zuko had a funny feeling he’d made a lifelong friend for himself. Much more trusting now, Appa allowed himself to be led all the way back to the stream they’d parked the carriage beside, although Zuko carefully steered clear of the carriage itself and the ostrich horses at its helm. Zuko reached forward to scoop some water up – 

_\- the ocean pushed him gently onto a piece of driftwood –_

_“ – I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se – “_

_“ – more clumps, I’m sure the Avatar is this way – “_

“ZUKO!”

Zuko leapt up and stumbled backwards so fast he tripped and fell on his back. “ _Azula_ ,” he gasped out.

“What about Azula? What’s going on?” Smellerbee questioned, her hands hovering above his shoulders like she wasn’t sure whether to touch him or not.

Zuko scrambled to his feet and raced for Appa. “Appa, I need you to stay calm for me, okay? We gotta go somewhere and I need you to let us ride on your back. Can you do that? Please? For Aang?” Appa gave him a long look and rumbled in affirmation. Zuko whirled around and ran back to the carriage, skidding to a halt. “Everyone get your stuff and get on Appa, _now_!”

“What’s going on?” Smellerbee repeated while she leapt into the carriage and collected her things.

“We don’t have time to talk! I’ll explain later but right now you need to _trust me_!”

His four companions exchanged wary glances, but they did as he said and gathered their things before climbing onto Appa. Zuko unsheathed his sword, sliced the ostrich horses free from their bindings, and climbed onto Appa’s head. “How are we supposed to ride this thing?” Jet demanded.

“Hold on tight,” Zuko answered grimly.

_”Yip yip? What the hell does that even - ?”_

“Yip yip,” Zuko said, and Appa took to the sky as his four passengers on his back screamed.

“Can you tell us what the hell is going on now?” Jet called to him.

“The Ocean Spirit saved my life in the North Pole,” Zuko shouted back. “I didn’t remember until just now, but it put me on that driftwood and carried me away from the fight, and healed my injuries. I think somewhere in all of that it must have – connected to me, or something, because just now, when I went to wash Appa, it showed me Aang and Azula.”

“Wait, together?” Smellerbee exclaimed in alarm.

“No – it showed me Aang, and then it showed me Azula, and she was heading right for us!”

“Where’s Aang? Is that where we’re going now?” she asked.

“I don’t know where he is. Some beach. But he and his friends are going to Ba Sing Se, so we’ll just have to meet them there.”

“Works for me!” she proclaimed.

“But… where _are_ we going now?” Chit Sang inquired.

“…I have no idea!”

“How about Ba Sing Se?” Jet suggested. “I mean, do we really need passports if we ride in on the Avatar’s pet sky bison? Tell them we’re meeting the Avatar there?”

“That’s… That’s a really good point! I don’t think they have procedures for people flying into Ba Sing Se instead of taking the ferry! But just in case, let’s have passports anyway!”

“In that case, can you drop me off at the nearest village? I’ll make your passports and then I’ll just hang out, because I think my line of work is a lot more difficult in Ba Sing Se!”

“I’ll keep an eye out!”

Less than an hour later, they found a village and settled down a few miles away. Smellerbee and Longshot agreed to stay with Appa, so Zuko, Jet, and Chit Sang headed for the village and then the village marketplace. “Here, take this,” Zuko said to Jet, handing him two gold pieces from his money pouch. “That should be enough for whatever we need for the passports.” Jet thanked him and headed off with Chit Sang. Zuko spoke to someone about building a very large saddle, and then he purchased some writing supplies and settled down off to the side.

_Aang,_

_Appa is safe. The Fire Lord’s daughter, Azula, is following his fur trail. I’m taking him to Ba Sing Se where she can’t get to us. I heard you’re going there too, so meet us there, okay? Fair warning: I’m traveling with three people who call themselves the Freedom Fighters. I’m told you have history with them, but they’ve assured me that they’ve changed since then, and I believe them. Still, I would protect Appa even from them if I had to. I won’t let anything happen to him._

_I’ll see you soon._

_\- the Blue Spirit_

Zuko carefully considered the amount of writing supplies he had left, and started writing a second letter.

_Sela, Gansu, and Lee,_

_I won’t say too much in case this falls into the wrong hands. I just wanted to let you know that I am as safe as I possibly can be. I’ve remembered my promise to you and I’ve kept it to the best of my ability. I’ll write you another letter as soon as I can. I hope you’re all doing well too, although I know you can’t risk sending me a letter back. I look forward to seeing you again someday._

_\- Zuko_

“Who’re you writing to?” Jet asked nosily as he plopped down beside him.

“The Avatar,” Zuko answered.

“Why do you have two letters?”

Zuko sighed. “The Avatar and someone else.”

“Someone else who? Is it a girlfriend?”

“ _No._ ”

“A boyfriend?”

“ _No._ ” Zuko rolled his eyes. “It’s a long story, okay?”

“You have too many secrets,” Jet complained.

“I have the perfect amount of secrets,” Zuko disagreed.

“Anyway, Chit Sang is working on the passports right now using our fake names. That’s okay, right?” Jet clarified.

“It has to be. He could hardly use anything else,” Zuko pointed out. “Someone is making a saddle right now. In the meantime, we should probably pick up some food.”

“Good thinking.”

“It’s the only kind I have.” Zuko and Jet walked through the marketplace picking up food, splitting the costs evenly between the two of them and the two with Appa. “I’ll pay for Appa’s food,” Zuko volunteered.

“You’re freakishly generous for a criminal,” Jet informed him.

Zuko shrugged. “What can I say? It’s been a good day.” They stopped by the messenger hawk rental on the way to pick up the saddle. He nearly panicked when he saw a section of a nearby wall dedicated to wanted posters, but a quick onceover revealed that his poster wasn’t up there for some reason. Zuko paid the merchant to send his two letters in two different directions. He turned to the merchant. “Say… do you think a messenger hawk could send a letter to someone whose name I don’t know?”

“Unlikely,” the merchant told him regretfully.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Zuko supposed he would just have to hope he ran into that blind earthbender again someday. It wasn’t too far-fetched; she knew he was headed for Ba Sing Se and she knew he wanted to be a teamaker. Still, she hadn’t sounded like she was planning on going to Ba Sing Se herself any time soon.

Zuko and Jet reached the saddle. They decided to put all the food on the saddle and pick up either end to make everything easier to carry. When they got back, Smellerbee and Longshot had washed Appa, and Chit Sang was done with the passports. “Thanks again for rescuing me,” he said. “It was good to meet you all, and it was good to see you again, Blue.”

“Yeah, you too, Chit Sang,” Zuko answered amicably. “Take care of yourself out there. The Fire Nation is still after you, and they’ll send you to the Boiling Rock if they do.”

“I could say the same to you,” Chit Sang pointed out.

Zuko scoffed. “There’s a reason they want me alive. Somehow I doubt I’m going anywhere as pleasant as the Boiling Rock.”

Chit Sang grimaced. “All the more reason to haul ass to Ba Sing Se.”

When he left, Zuko turned to the Freedom Fighters. “About that.”

“You still want your ostrich horse, right?” Smellerbee guessed. “Jet told us about that.”

Longshot patted his shoulder and nodded firmly.

“Thanks,” Zuko responded, feeling the corner of his lips curl despite himself.

 

 

Appa landed in the village Zuko had visited so long ago only a few days and one food stop later. “I’m giving the poor woman I saddled him with two gold pieces for her trouble,” he told Smellerbee conversationally as they headed for Dao, having left Jet and Longshot with Appa. “ _That_ pun was on purpose.”

“We’ll make an actual human out of you yet, Blueko,” she declared, punching him in the arm.

Zuko knocked on the door. When Sovon opened it, her jaw dropped. “After I heard what happened in the North Pole, I was positive you were dead,” she remarked. “Of course, then I knew you weren’t, because your wanted poster kept cropping up everywhere, Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.”

Zuko ignored Smellerbee’s sharp inhalation beside him even as his blood ran cold. “If you’ve seen the posters, I’m sure you know I was on the right side in that fight, too,” he pointed out.

“It seemed like a convenient cover-up for something else,” Sovon stated calmly.

“Listen, I just want Dao back. I’ve got two gold pieces.”

“…Alright. Thanks.”

Zuko paid her. She led her into the stable, and there was Dao, lifting his head immediately and trotting right for Zuko to nuzzle his shoulder. “I missed you too, buddy,” he promised, amazed by Dao’s reaction. He led Dao back to the marketplace. Smellerbee was remarkably silent the whole trip, probably still coming to terms with the newest revelation. He stopped at the edge of the marketplace and turned to her. “So. What will you do now?”

“…I don’t know,” Smellerbee admitted. “You’re the Fire Lord’s _son_? That terrifying girl who’s hunting the Avatar, she’s your _sister_?”

“Yes.”

Smellerbee rubbed the back of her neck as she eyed him pensively. “But you’re not the prince anymore because you betrayed them at the North Pole.”

“I haven’t been the prince in three years,” Zuko elaborated. “When I was thirteen, I spoke out of turn at a war meeting. General Bujing wanted to send a battalion of new recruits to fight an experienced Earth Kingdom battalion as bait. I stood up and rejected his plan very, very loudly. To challenge a general in the Fire Lord’s war room is to challenge the Fire Lord, specifically to an Agni Kai – a fire duel. I refused to fight him. He burned my face and banished me.”

“ _Spirits_ ,” Smellerbee exclaimed. “So that’s why you’re so vehemently against the Fire Nation.”

“No, it’s not,” Zuko stressed. “This isn’t about me. It’s about the whole world. I’m still reeling from finding out what my own father did to all these innocent people – your family, Jet’s family, Longshot’s family – Aang’s entire people – I would do anything to stop him. He told me I could come back if I captured the Avatar. I realized afterwards that he never meant for me to come home, but still, when Aang showed up, I did try to catch him a few times – not so I could go home, but so I could go home and _fix things_ , as the Crown Prince. And when he died, I would become Fire Lord. Now, if someone kills him, they better damn well kill Azula too.”

Smellerbee gave him a long, thoughtful look. Finally she said, “I won’t tell the others.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped. “You – really?”

“Really. Jet likes you, but he’s very narrow-minded about the Fire Nation. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. I don’t know what he’d do if he found out, but I’m not about to risk losing you based just on Jet’s prejudice. Also, I have a funny feeling Appa wouldn’t let us fly him to Ba Sing Se without you.”

“That’s probably true.”

They returned to the carriage to find Jet reading from a sheet of paper and Longshot peeling the bark off of a sapling with a knife, with a pile of peeled and unpeeled saplings on the ground, both of them leaning against Appa, who was taking a nap. Jet looked up as they arrived and got to his feet, storing the sheet of paper in his bag. “Hey guys! I guess this must be Dao!” Jet walked over and stroked Dao’s head a bit. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” he told Dao very seriously. “Zuko’s told us a lot about you.” The unfairly endearing greeting was obviously a ploy to get deeper under Zuko’s guard, but Agni help him, it was working. “Now what?” Jet asked. “To Ba Sing Se, right?”

“I guess so.”

Zuko hopped onto Appa’s head while the other three climbed back into the saddle, bringing Dao with them to tie him down up there. “Yip yip!” Zuko said. Appa roared enthusiastically and took off towards Ba Sing Se.

“Zuko, I’ve been – “

“I think we should stick together when we reach Ba Sing Se,” Zuko interrupted Jet, carefully fixing his eyes on the horizon rather than looking behind him. Dead silence answered him, and for a moment, just a moment, he wondered if he’d miscalculated. All the signs were there that they considered him a friend. They teased him, they supported him, they drank tea with him, and they seemed to trust him. Smellerbee had even agreed to keep his identity secret from the other two out of fear that Jet might send him away, so that had to mean she, at least, wanted him to stick around. The three of them were incredibly closely-knit. Smellerbee’s opinion ought to count for something – an agreement to think about it, at least, as opposed to an outright rejection.

He was partway through a mental tally of points both for and against them wanting to stay with him when Jet exclaimed, “You hear that, guys? That’s right! The Blue Spirit is a Freedom Fighter now!”

“Wait a second,” Zuko interjected automatically as his brain caught up with Jet’s words. “I didn’t sign up for that.”

“Blueko, from you, that was practically a declaration of love,” Smellerbee informed him gleefully. “You definitely signed up for that.”

Longshot tapped him on the shoulder. Zuko twisted back to look at him, and Longshot gripped the same shoulder tightly for a few seconds, smiling warmly.

“Thanks, Longshot,” Zuko replied softly, recognizing the implied welcome.

“I’m not making any tea,” Smellerbee announced.

 

 

A few days later, Appa settled down on the wall of Ba Sing Se to terrified and awed stares from the military stationed up there. “What is that thing?!” someone shouted in alarm.

“A sky bison,” Zuko answered as he slid off of Appa’s head, bracing himself. “The Avatar’s sky bison, specifically.”

The man boggled at him. “Are you the Avatar?”

“No. But I’m friends with him, and he and his friends are on their way to Ba Sing Se,” Zuko informed him.

The man turned around. “Did you hear that? The Avatar’s sky bison and friends are here, and the Avatar himself is on the way!” The men and women on the wall cheered. Zuko was positive his vision from the Ocean Spirit had been accurate, but he really, really hoped Aang hadn’t changed his mind.

“I realize this is a bit unorthodox, but I’m not sure what the proper protocol is for flying to Ba Sing Se instead of taking the ferry,” Zuko admitted. Behind him, the other three finished untying Dao and helped him down from Appa’s saddle.

“We’ll make arrangements for you and for the Avatar when he arrives,” the man promised. “I’m General Sung.”

“I’m Xin. This is Mishing, Shoni, and Fulo.” Zuko indicated Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot in turn. “The sky bison is named Appa, and the ostrich horse is named Dao.”

“Very good to meet you, Xin, Mishing, Shoni, and Fulo. Very good indeed. There should be available lodgings in the Upper Ring to suit you for as long as you need.”

“Thank you very much, General Sung. How about work? Are there jobs available – “

General Sung waved a hand dismissively. “You don’t need to worry about that. Ba Sing Se will provide for you.”

“Sounds good to me,” Smellerbee decided.

Zuko deflated a bit. “Oh. I - I see. That doesn’t seem quite right – I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose – “

“Really, it’s no trouble – “

“I’ve been told I’m an excellent teamaker,” Zuko interrupted firmly. “I’d rather put those skills to some use, if I could, rather than living off of Ba Sing Se’s wealth.” Despite the fact that, as the blind earthbender girl he’d befriended had mentioned, his uncle’s crimes against humanity were not his, he would still feel uncomfortable benefitting so much from a city his uncle had tried to destroy in the name of the Fire Nation and the Fire Lord who had once ordered his own son to kill his own grandson. It was bad enough that he was being housed in the Upper Ring for free when there were surely many refugees who were much more deserving than him in the Middle and Lower Rings.

“Oh,” General Sung replied, taken aback. “Well, if you insist, there _is_ an unused café in the Upper Ring. You are certainly more than welcome to make use of it.”

Stunned, Zuko didn’t know what to say. Luckily, Jet stepped forward and said, “We would appreciate that very much, General Sung.”

“Excellent. If you go right that way and take the monorail to the inner wall, someone will be waiting there to guide you.

Jet rested an arm on Zuko’s shoulder as they walked, grinning at him. “I guess we’re gonna have a family business, guys,” he declared.

“I am not making tea!” Smellerbee protested. “Spirits, that would be so boring.”

“So wait tables instead,” Jet suggested.

“That would be worse. No thanks. I’m good with having people wait on _me_.” They stepped onto the monorail, and as it took off, Appa took to the air beside it.

“Well, I for one am looking forward to our new family business,” Jet announced. “Teamakers by day and Freedom Fighters by night.”

“Jet, everyone here is free already,” Smellerbee pointed out.

“…Well, I’m still looking forward to it.”

“Me too,” Zuko agreed, and started when he realized that he wasn’t just saying that. He meant it. He was actually looking forward to the future he could see in front of him, the future he hadn’t believed he could have a month and a half ago. A future with the Freedom Fighters, with his tea shop, with Appa and Dao, and very soon, with Aang, Suki, Katara, and Sokka. He looked at Jet and Smellerbee still engaged in playful banter and met Longshot’s gaze, seeing his own unbearable fondness reflected there.

The monorail came to a halt, and an exuberant woman waited on the other side. “Hello, my name is Joo Dee! I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar’s friends around Ba Sing Se. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?”

“That’d be great, thanks,” Jet answered.

“Great! Then let’s begin our tour, and then I’ll show you to your new home here. I think you’ll like it!”

She led them to an ostrich horse-drawn carriage. Smellerbee looked at it dubiously. “I don’t think we’re all gonna fit in there.”

Longshot quirked an eyebrow at Appa.

“Flying probably isn’t the best option,” Jet disagreed. “We could just walk, though. We’ve had a nice break from walking thanks to Appa here, and I’m sure he’d rather walk than carry us around in the sky.”

“Walking is fine,” Joo Dee agreed.

They spent the day strolling through the city as Joo Dee pointed out landmarks. Eventually they reached their new house, which was right next to the café General Sung had offered them. Smellerbee dashed right in, with Jet hot on her heels, and as Zuko and Longshot entered at a more leisurely pace, Smellerbee shouted, “ _DIBS_!” as she slammed her open palm into a bedroom door. “This one’s the best!”

“No, this one’s the best!” Jet disagreed from where he leaned against a bedroom door across from hers.

Zuko and Longshot exchanged glances and shrugged.

 

 

“Two cups of jasmine tea and one cup of ginseng,” Jet announced as he entered the back of the teashop.

Longshot held two fingers in the air.

“Great, I’ll take the Ginseng then,” Zuko replied.

The two of them got busy making the tea. “Oh, and one of the tables offered compliments to the chef,” Jet added. “But I can’t remember which of you made the tea.”

“Well, we’ve both gotten enough compliments over the past three days,” Zuko pointed out. “I think we’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jet complained. “Way to rub in your superior tea skills. I’ll beat you one day. Just you wait.”

“Sure, and bull pigs will fly,” Zuko mocked.

“Coming through – excuse me – sorry, this is important – “ Smellerbee burst into the back. “Okay, I don’t know what’s going on, but Appa is _freaking out_.”

“What?” Zuko paused in his brewing, looking up at her in concern.

Smellerbee threw her hands in the air. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say he… wants to show us something?”

“Something like Aang,” Zuko muttered.

“You think he’s here already?” she asked in surprise. “On foot?”

Zuko shrugged. “I have no idea how close he already was when we started heading here.”

Longshot patted him on the shoulder and nodded to Smellerbee.

“Send Appa if you need us,” Jet added. “We’ll start closing up shop just in case.”

“Okay, thanks.” Zuko followed Smellerbee out of the tea shop to where Appa was pacing and rumbling ceaselessly. Zuko leapt onto Appa’s head while Smellerbee climbed into his saddle. Almost immediately, Appa threw himself into action, dodging buildings until he’d ascended higher than their tips, and then he continued ascending until they reached the outer wall, where Appa skidded to a halt on the ground so hard Zuko nearly fell off.

“ _Appa_!” a familiar voice shrieked in delight from underneath them. “I missed you too, buddy!” Appa roared ecstatically in response.

Zuko slid off of Appa’s head and steeled himself. “Hi, Aang.”

Aang was hugging Appa’s face tightly as tears slid down his face, smiling brighter than Zuko could ever remember. He looked up at the sound of Zuko’s voice and his smile, if possible, intensififed. “Blue!” he shouted, launching himself at Zuko.

“Good to see you too,” Zuko said weakly as Aang wrapped his arms around his waist and tucked his face into his shoulder. He gingerly wrapped his arms around Aang’s back in turn, and let go just a few seconds later.

“It’s _so good_ to see you,” Aang told him seriously. “You have no idea how happy we were to get your letters – come on, let’s go get the others, they’re at the bottom of the wall – oh, and we have a _serious_ problem.”

“How serious?”

Aang led him to the other side of the wall and gestured, but he needn’t have bothered. As soon as he approached the edge, Zuko’s attention was completely occupied by the giant drill with the Fire Nation insignia driving towards the wall.

“Yeah, that’s serious,” Smellerbee agreed. She turned to Aang. “I know we didn’t part on great terms, but Jet, Longshot and I don’t do that kind of thing anymore. If you want our help on this, we’d be glad to do whatever we can.”

Aang gave her a long look and nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think we need all the help we can get. You two stay here – I’m going to go get the others. They’re still at the bottom of the wall.”

“Okay. Appa and I can get Jet and Longshot,” Smellerbee offered.

Aang’s eyes widened in alarm. “Uh….”

“I’ll do it,” Zuko volunteered. “S- Shoni, you go with Aang.” He caught himself at the last second, mindful of where they were.

“Right,” Smellerbee agreed, taking in Aang’s confused expression. “And maybe I’ll explain about the whole ‘Shoni’ thing while I’m at it.”

Aang hugged Zuko again, and when he pulled back, he was regarding Zuko with a seriousness he’d never worn on his face before. “You’re gonna come back this time,” he told him. “Both of you.”

Zuko raised an eyebrow at him. “Aang, it’s literally a few minutes away. We’ll be fine.” He got onto Appa and flew back to the teashop, where Jet and Longshot were leaning against the teashop expectantly. “Hey. There’s trouble. Get on.”

“Ever the talkative one,” Jet remarked as he and Longshot climbed on. “What’s this trouble?”

“A giant drill trying to penetrate the outer wall,” Zuko deadpanned.

“…You’re not kidding, are you?”

“Nope.”

“So we’ve been asked to help by the general?”

“Nope. The Avatar.”

“Oh, he is here!” Jet exclaimed. “And… his friends are here too, then. Suki. Sokka…. Katara?”

“Well, I would assume so.”

Jet hummed noncommittally.

Appa landed on the wall again, where Smellerbee waited with Aang, Suki, Katara, and Sokka waited. Suki ran forward and pulled him into a tight hug, and then she released him only to punch him in the arm, _hard_. “ _I_ \- _thought_ \- _you_ \- _were_ \- _dead_!” She punctuated each word with a punch.

“What?” Zuko was flummoxed. “Why would you think that? It’s not like I was in any danger after the North Pole – “

“After the North Pole, where you ran after Zhao and we never saw you again?” Suki interrupted.

“…Uh….” Zuko looked to Aang for answers, but he didn’t seem to have any. “But… Aang saved me…? In the Avatar State…? Wait, you don’t remember?”

“ _No_ ,” Aang cried. “I don’t remember anything that I did in the Avatar State! Only bits and pieces when I’m sleeping.”

“You drowned Zhao, healed my injuries, and pushed me away from the battle,” Zuko said slowly. “…If I’d known that you didn’t know, I would have written or something. I swear.”

“Well, nothing to do about it now,” Suki sighed. “I’m just glad you’re alive. But don’t ever disappear like that again, got it?”

“Got it,” Zuko agreed nervously, rubbing his arm.

She winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to actually hurt you.”

“You got a greeting for me?” someone else challenged.

Zuko finally noticed their fifth member, and his jaw dropped. “ _What_? You’re traveling with the _Avatar_?” he exclaimed. “That didn’t seem like something to tell me?”

The blind earthbender girl shrugged. “To be fair, I actually wasn’t when I met you.”

“What’s your name, anyway?” Zuko demanded. “How was I supposed to write to you when I reached Ba Sing Se if I didn’t know your name?”

“Oh!” The girl scratched her head. “Guess that never occurred to me. Name’s Toph.”

“Are you the blind earthbender girl who beat Zuko up and told him to make tea in Ba Sing Se?” Smellerbee asked, intrigued.

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Well, good job. Now he’s roped us all into helping out with his stupid tea shop.”

“Zuko, I’ve got something for you,” Sokka said. He took something out of his pocket and held it out.

Zuko accepted it, wide-eyed. “This – This is….”

“Your uncle’s knife,” Sokka confirmed. “I picked it up after you ran off in the North Pole. I figured that after you got my boomerang back to me, the least I could do was try and get this back to you.”

“Thank you,” Zuko said fervently. “Wait, you called me – “

“Yeah, we all know who you are now,” Katara confessed. “We’ve seen the wanted posters. It’s okay though! I mean, none of us hold it against you.”

“Well, while we’re being honest….” Zuko turned to stare at Jet in shock as the latter pulled a sheet of paper from his bag and unrolled it, revealing Zuko’s face and a far more detailed description of him and his crimes than the initial wanted poster he’d handed to Jet had contained. “I’ve seen ‘em too.”

“Wait, so just to clarify, all of you know that I’m – that I was the Fire Lord’s son,” Zuko checked.

“I never got the chance to tell Smellerbee,” Jet admitted apologetically. “Sorry – I meant to, but I never got the chance to speak to you alone – “

“That’s alright, Jet. I’ve known for about a week. I intentionally didn’t tell you because I thought you’d fly off the handle,” Smellerbee informed him cheerfully. “Glad to see I was wrong.”

“Well, you had good reason to think that.” Jet turned back to Aang and his friends with his head bowed. “I want you to know that I am so, so sorry for what I tried to do back in Gaipan, and especially what I tried to do to you, Sokka. I never stop thinking about it. If you can’t forgive me then I understand, but please forgive Longshot and Smellerbee. Their only mistake was having too much faith in me.”

“Let’s talk about that later,” Suki suggested. “For now, whether we like it or not, we need your help.”

“I’ve got a plan,” Sokka announced. “We’re gonna go inside the drill and take out the pressure points to destroy it.”

Zuko walked up to the edge of the wall and stared pensively at the drill. “If I do this…, that’s it. No turning back. I’m a full-blown traitor.”

Aang put a hand on his shoulder, frowning at him in concern. “Is… Is that okay?”

“Oh, that’s more than okay." Zuko turned to face his friends with a vicious smirk on his face. “This is what I’ve wanted all along.”


	10. Bad Moon White Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! Trigger warning for a very brief reference to a past suicide attempt and implicit references to past child abuse.
> 
> Fair warning: school starts later this week, so updates are probably going to slow down a little. I'm churning this thing out as fast as I can before the workload starts getting too heavy, though. With any luck, this will be complete within another two or three weeks, max.
> 
> Chapter title is from Glycerine by Bush.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 10: Bad Moon White Again

“Okay, here’s the plan,” Sokka began as everyone huddled around him. “When we get to the bottom of the wall, Toph, you whip up some cover, get us to the drill. We look for an opening. Katara and Aang will use waterbending to take out some pressure points and Zuko will use firebending to take out others. Zuko, buddy, I can’t tell you how good it is to have a firebender on our side for once. Toph, you’ll stay on the ground where you can see and bend. Suki, you’ll come with me to watch Katara’s and Aang’s backs. Longshot, Smellerbee, you’ll stay with Zuko. To be clear, we’re not splitting up, but you two will focus on Zuko and Suki and I will focus on Katara and Aang. Jet, you’ll stay with Toph. We get in, we take out as many pressure points as we can, and we get out. Oh, and we avoid the crazy princess.”

“Wait, _what_?” Zuko interjected.

Katara’s jaw dropped. “Tui and La, she’s your _sister_ , isn’t she?”

“Unfortunately,” Zuko groused. “She’s here? With the drill?”

“Yeah, and so are her two crazy friends, Ty Lee and Mai,” Katara added.

“Dammit, I don’t want to fight them,” Zuko groaned.

“You’d rather fight your own sister than her two crazy friends?” Aang questioned.

“I never liked my sister,” Zuko muttered, his skin crawling with phantom pain accompanied by the familiar sting of grief in his chest. “I liked them, once.”

“We’re obviously going to try and avoid them, so hopefully it won’t come to that.” Sokka frowned at him. “…But if we do – “

“I’ll do what I have to do,” Zuko promised. “I won’t hold back.”

 

 

“Can’t you go any faster?”

“You come over here and melt this brace, then!” Zuko snarled.

Sokka raised his hands defensively. “Okay, okay! Sorry! Sheesh.”

Zuko growled wordlessly at him and kept going.

“I think we’re almost done here,” Suki called out hopefully. “Just a few more braces and we’ll be good to go!”

“And then I’ll go deliver the finishing blast at the top,” Aang finished, sounding exhausted but relieved.

“Zuzu, what a pleasant surprise!” Zuko reacted instinctively, kicking the strongest blast he could at the speaker. Azula knocked it away easily. “Losing your touch there, brother? Oh, but that’s right – you were always this awful at firebending. Say, isn’t that why Mother died?”

“Zuko, _don’t_ ,” Smellerbee shouted in alarm, but she was drowned out by the blood rushing in Zuko’s ears. He charged forward and punched more fire at her, blast after blast after blast. It was no good; she brushed all of them off like they were nothing.

As Zuko grew closer to her, Azula readied her own firebending blast. However, when she sent it, Aang suddenly appeared in front of Zuko, twirling his staff and dissipating the fire. Someone behind Zuko yanked him backwards. “Come on!” Katara shouted in his ear. He nodded and followed her across a path of ice to the exit, Aang close behind him. As footsteps heavier than Aang’s sounded behind them, Zuko slid to the side, shoved Aang in front of him, and knocked Mai and Ty Lee away with another blast. Azula leapt over them to attack, but a strong burst of airbending went right over Zuko’s head, knocking her back. Zuko and Aang followed the others back out of the room.

They made four or five turns through the labrynth of hallways before coming to a stop. “Guys, get out of here,” Aang told them all. “I know what I need to do.”

Katara nodded and tossed her waterskin to him. “You need this more than I do.”

“I’m going with you,” Zuko informed him. “You’ll need backup when Azula comes after you.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“See you on the other side,” Suki said grimly. She led the others down one hallway, and Zuko and Aang took another.

“So you opened your own tea shop?” Aang chirped.

“Is now really the time to talk?” Zuko snapped. At the crestfallen look on Aang’s face, he hastily corrected, “I mean, I’d love to talk to you! Just, maybe not when we’re about to die.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.”

Zuko and Aang made their way out of the drill and to the top, where boulders were crashing down all around them. “Hey, watch it!” Zuko shouted, glaring at the top of the wall.

“General Sung, please, tell your men to stop!” Aang called up to the general and his men. There was no reaction. “I guess we’re stuck.”

“Do what you have to do,” Zuko said. “I’ve got your back.” Aang got to work using Katara’s water to slice up the drill while Zuko guarded him from the falling boulders. A blast of blue fire rushed right past him, nearly hitting Aang, but Zuko kicked through it with his own red fire just in time. “Azula,” he hissed.

“What an observant little traitor you are, Zuzu,” Azula sneered.

“Azula?”

“Keep going, Aang!” Zuko insisted, readying himself in a fighting stance. “I’ve got this.”

“Is that so?” Azula went through a frighteningly familiar motion with her hands and arms. “Then by all means, _have it_!”

Lightning crackled at her fingertips, and she pointed it directly at Zuko. Cursing, Zuko whirled around, jerked Aang into his arms, and threw them off the side of the drill. As lightning shot past them, he unsheathed his sword and stabbed the drill, getting a good enough grip to keep them from falling too far. He threw Aang back up. Aang reached down to tug him up too as he removed his sword from the drill and sheathed it. “Is that all you got?” he shouted at Azula. She responded by raising both of her hands and dragging them diagonally down towards each other, building up blue flames as she released them in a ferocious blast. Zuko dropped backwards into a low crouch on his hands and spun his legs, dispelling the fire with his own.

As he did so, Azula leapt over his head at Aang, who was cutting at a boulder now. She brought one hand down in a blurry blaze, but Aang caught a boulder in one hand and slammed it into her hand. The boulder shattered, but Aang was okay, and it bought Zuko enough time to summon a fiery whip and lash it at her back. Azula landed on her feet before Aang and kicked behind her at the whip, blocking it with her flames. Before she had quite finished, Zuko kicked fire at her. She caught it just in time and redirected it towards him. While her back was turned to him, Aang snaked Katara’s water around her ankle and yanked her off-balance. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Zuko tackled her and knocked her right off of the drill. They landed in a puddle of sludge at the bottom. As Zuko spluttered, having fallen face-first, Azula leapt gracefully to her feet and punched flames right at his head, which he just barely managed to knock away with one fist as he rolled over.

Azula lifted another fist, glowing blue, but before she could strike Zuko again, she had to dodge one, two, three arrows. Then Suki was there with her fans and Jet with his hooked swords, and before Zuko even had the chance to rejoin the fight, a large blast of airbending sent a wave of sludge onto all of them. As they recovered, the drill suddenly stopped, and sludge burst from every crevice. Of all the ways Zuko had nearly drowned in the past half a year alone, he didn’t intend to put sludge on the list of potential culprits. He took Suki and Jet by the backs of their shirts, leapt into the air, and kicked fire at the drill, knocking all three of them out of the way in the nick of time. Azula escaped too, naturally, but Appa swooped down and slammed his tail on the ground right beside her, knocking her off of her feet and into the sludge. Zuko, Suki, and Jet hastily climbed into his saddle. Aang leapt off of the drill and landed neatly on Appa’s head. “Yip yip!” They swung around to pick Smellerbee, Longshot, Toph, Sokka, and Katara up as well, and then they darted back up to the outer wall.

When they got up there, they all exchanged glances before bursting into adrenaline-induced laughter. Jet hung his arm around Zuko’s neck while Suki ruffled his hair. “It’s good to have you back, Blue,” she told him.

“I thought you were gonna be toast for a minute there,” Jet commented, and then cackled evilly.

“Have you seen my face?” Zuko asked incredulously. “Did that really seem like an appropriate joke?”

Aang threw himself over the side of the saddle and gleefully pulled Zuko into another hug. The positioning was a bit awkward since Aang’s legs were strewn across Suki’s lap and Zuko fell onto Jet’s shoulder, but neither of them seemed to mind, so Zuko hugged him back. Aang rolled off of him and collapsed onto his back in the middle of the saddle. “What now?” he asked cheerfully. “Oh, right. The Earth King. The eclipse.”

“Eclipse?” Smellerbee questioned curiously.

“There’s an eclipse coming,” Aang explained. “During the eclipse, for a few minutes, all firebenders will lose their bending.”

“That’s when you’re going to kill my father,” Zuko realized out loud, shocked. Everyone turned to him, slack-jawed. “What? Don’t look at me like that. I’ve wanted him dead since – honestly, I can’t remember wanting him _alive_. If I’d had the means I probably would have done away with him myself a long time ago. I mean, you’ve all seen my face. Why _wouldn’t_ I want him dead?”

“Wait a second,” Sokka interjected, his voice dangerously low. “That was your _father_?”

Zuko shrugged. “As Toph once said, my father is ‘the evilest evil to ever evil.’ I don’t know why everyone is so surprised when I tell them that.”

“Zuko, your hand,” Katara said in alarm. Zuko looked down at his hand, the one he’d used to block Azula’s last attack when he was on the ground, and realized it _hurt_. There was a burn – he must have been hit by some of the fire instead of pushing it away. “Aang, can you pass me the waterskin?”

“Oh, sure!” Aang sat up for a second, pulled the waterskin off of him, and tossed it to her.

Katara scooted closer to Zuko and waterbended the water onto her hands before placing them gently on Zuko’s hand. The pain quickly receded, leaving not even the smallest trace of the burn when she pulled away. Jet whistled. “That is a neat new trick.” Katara glared at him. Jet withered, falling silent. Zuko had never seen him wrong-footed before, so it was incredibly satisfying to snicker at _his_ discomfort for once.

“Okay, let’s go talk to the Earth King,” Sokka declared. “The sooner, the better.”

Aang climbed back onto Appa’s head. “Yip yip!”

Appa leapt from the wall and glided right to the palace. A man in long, dark green robes with a braid hanging down his back greeted them with a warm smile. “I am Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se and head of the Dai Li. It is my supreme honor to meet the Avatar and his friends.”

“Hi, Long Feng,” Aang replied enthusiastically. “My name’s Aang. This is Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Toph Beifong, Xin, Shoni, Mishing, and Fulo. We have urgent news for the Earth King about the war.”

“I regret to inform you that the Earth King is not currently available. However, as his advisor, I would be more than happy to listen to your information.”

Aang exchanged glances with Suki, then Katara, then Sokka. He turned back to Long Feng. “Well, okay.”

“Excellent. Right this way, everyone.” Long Feng led them into the palace and then off to the side down a long hallway. At the end was an office, presumably his. “I’m afraid I don’t have enough seating for all of you.”

“That’s alright,” Katara assured him. “We’ll be okay standing.”

“So, what is this urgent news?”

“There’s an eclipse coming.” Sokka launched into a detailed explanation of their venture into a secret library in the Si Wong Desert and discovery of the ‘Day of Black Sun,’ as he called it. He finished with, “If we want to end this war, we have to invade the Fire Nation during the eclipse so that Aang can take out the Fire Lord once and for all.”

“While this sounds like an excellent foundation for a plan, I’m afraid Ba Sing Se will not be assisting you in this matter.”

“ _What_?” Suki demanded. “Didn’t you hear him? This is the only way to end the war!”

“There is no war in Ba Sing Se,” Long Feng retorted.

“Okay, we _just_ stopped a giant drill from burrowing right through the outer wall,” Toph protested in disbelief. “The only reason the war isn’t in Ba Sing Se yet is because we just stopped it from entering!”

“And I appreciate that,” Long Feng snapped. “All the same, Ba Sing Se is not involving itself in the war at this moment.”

“Ba Sing Se is _already in the war_!” Smellerbee exploded. “Where’s the king? If you won’t listen to us, we’ll talk to him instead.”

“You will do no such thing,” Long Feng asserted. “The Earth King has no time to get involved in political squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities. What’s most important to His Royal Majesty is maintaining the _cultural_ heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It’s _my_ job to oversee the rest of the city’s resources, including the military.”

“Well, you’re obviously not any good at it,” Zuko informed him heatedly. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Wait, so this king is just a figurehead,” Katara realized out loud.

“He’s your puppet!” Toph exclaimed.

“His Majesty is an icon, a god to his people,” Long Feng bit out. “He can’t sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war.”

“It doesn’t have to be endless,” Suki pressed desperately. “We can end it!”

“Enough! No more about your ridiculous plan. Until now, your friends have been treated as honored guests. I recommend you cease this nonsense if you want to maintain that status, lest you find yourself an enemy of Ba Sing Se instead.”

Aang opened his mouth to argue, but Suki gripped his shoulder hard enough that Zuko could see her fingers pressing into his skin through his clothes. “Fine. I can see we’re not welcome here. We’ll be on our way.”

“Yes, you do that,” Long Feng agreed hostilely.

Suki pulled Aang out of the room, and the rest of them trailed after them, exchanging confused glances. When they got to the main room, Aang pulled away from Suki as they huddled together and he hissed, “What was that? Why did we give up?”

“I can tell when a man is too self-righteous to listen to reason, and that is Long Feng to a ‘T,’” Suki muttered. “Here’s how I see it. I’m the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. Sokka and Katara are the son and daughter of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Toph is the most badass earthbender in the world. Zuko is the son of the Fire Lord himself. Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot, for all their faults, led a group of kids against the Fire Nation for years. Aang, you’re the _Avatar_. And we’re already in the palace right now.”

“So what are you thinking?” Aang asked warily.

“I’m thinking that we’re done asking permission.”

Toph grinned and cracked her knuckles. “I like where this is going.”

“What if the Earth King won’t listen to us either?” Aang worried.

“Then it doesn’t matter either way, and we’re done in Ba Sing Se,” Sokka said slowly. “But the way I see it, that’s where we are if we _don’t_ talk to him anyway. I’m with you, Suki.”

“Me too,” Zuko put in.

“You know I’m all for breaking the rules,” Jet commented.

Smellerbee and Longshot locked eyes for a few seconds, then turned back to the group. “Longshot and I are in,” Smellerbee announced.

“It’s the best plan we’ve got,” Katara agreed.

“Well, if all of you think this is a good idea…, okay. Let’s do it,” Aang decided. “Ready?” Everyone voiced their assent, so Aang pulled out his bison whistle and blew on it.

Appa burst through the palace doors. Long Feng rushed towards them, surrounded by Dai Li agents. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.

“We _will_ speak with the Earth King,” Suki declared. She whipped out her fans. “And no one is getting in our way!”

Zuko unsheathed his sword, careful to remember his secret identity. Jet drew his hook swords, Smellerbee drew her daggers, Longshot drew his bow, and Sokka drew his – “A boomerang?” Zuko demanded. “What, the machete wasn’t a dumb enough weapon? You had to go dumber?”

Sokka didn’t get the chance to reply. “Dai Li, attack!” Long Feng roared. Zuko quickly blocked a volley of earth hands with his sword, but he felt himself skidding backwards each time, pushed by the force of the blocks. He really wished he had the other half of his sword. They were thoroughly outnumbered by the Dai Li, but Toph’s earthbending was enough to level the playing field. From what Zuko could see between dodges and strikes, she really was immensely talented.

“Over here!” Sokka shouted. Zuko looked up to see Sokka and Longshot at the top of a pile of rubble caused by Toph and Aang’s earthbending. “These doors are too fancy not to lead anywhere!”

Zuko dashed forward and darted up the rubble with quick steps, light enough to avoid dislodging any of it and causing trouble for his teammates behind him. Aang and Toph were right behind him, and they drew two pillars of rock from the ground diagonally into the doors hard enough to slam them open. The Earth King, presumably, sat before them in a large throne with Long Feng already at his side. “We need to talk to you,” Aang declared firmly. Zuko took a second to admire the confidence he asserted with, the authority he commanded within the Earth King’s own palace. Already, he had developed incredible leadership skills and maturity for someone so young in the time since Zuko had last seen him.

“They’re here to overthrow you,” Long Feng told the Earth King.

“No, we’re on your side!” Sokka insisted. “We’re here to help.”

“You have to trust us,” Katara added.

“Trust you?” the Earth King challenged incredulously, standing. “You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, break down my fancy door, and you expect me to trust you?”

“He has a good point,” Toph muttered.

“If you are on my side, then drop your weapons!”

They all exchanged glances before dropping their respective weapons. “See?” Aang chirped. “We’re friends, your Earthiness.” Zuko resisted the urge to slap his forehead.

“Detain the assailants!” Long Feng commanded.

“But we dropped our weapons,” Sokka objected as the Dai Li swarmed them from behind, cuffing them. “We’re your allies.”

“Make sure the Avatar and his friends never see daylight again,” Long Feng commanded.

The Earth King jerked his head towards Long Feng, eyes flying wide open in shock, and then turned back to them. “The Avatar?” He pointed to Sokka. “You’re the Avatar?”

“Uh, no. Him,” Sokka corrected, nodding to Aang.

Aang earthbended his cuffs apart to wave his hands. “Over here!” He put his hands and cuffs back together.

“What does it matter, Your Highness? They’re enemies of the state,” Long Feng pointed out.

“Perhaps you’re right,” the Earth King mused. He smiled as his bear wandered over to Aang and licked him. “Though Bosco seems to like him…. I’ll hear what he has to say.”

Zuko watched as Aang stepped forward. “Well, sir, there’s a war going on. For the past one hundred years, in fact. The Dai Li’s kept it secret from you. It’s a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you.”

The Earth King laughed. “A secret war? That’s crazy!”

“Completely,” Long Feng agreed enthusiastically.

“Long Feng told us himself just minutes ago when we tried to speak with you,” Suki added. “He was trying to stop you from finding out!”

“This is a difficult claim to believe, even from the Avatar and his allies….” The Earth King shook his head.

“We can prove the war is real,” Sokka pressed. “Earlier today, the Fire Nation tried to drill right through the outer wall. The drill is probably still there. If you just let us take you to the outer wall, we can show you!”

The Earth King hesitated, frowning. “I… I have to trust my advisor….”

“We’re not expecting you to believe us just because of who we are,” Zuko put in.

“Well, no wonder,” Long Feng retorted. “You, yourself, are the son of the Fire Lord, aren’t you?”

“What does that matter if there is no war?” Zuko shot back. He turned back to the Earth King. “I understand that you trust your advisor, but _you_ are the king, not him. You owe it to your city, to yourself, to investigate this.”

“No Earth King has ever been to the outer wall,” the Earth King insisted. “It just isn’t done.”

“It’s never had a reason to be done before,” Katara pointed out. “But some things have to come before tradition. Don’t you think this is one of them?”

“She’s right,” the Earth King decided. “I will at least look at the outer wall before I turn you away.”

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief, nearly falling to his knees. “Thank you,” Aang said, looking just as relieved.

They all boarded the train except for Aang, who rode Appa. When they reached the outer wall, the drill was still there, plain as day. The Earth King stared down at it in horror. “I can’t believe this,” he whispered harshly. He turned away, looking lost. “I never knew….”

“I can explain this, Your Majesty,” Long Feng told him urgently. “This is nothing more than a… construction project.”

“Then explain the Fire Nation insignia,” Jet snarled, gesturing violently.

“Well, it’s imported, of course,” Long Feng bluffed as the Earth King narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him. “You know you can’t trust domestic machinery…. Surely you don’t believe these children instead of your most loyal attendant?”

“Dai Li!” The Earth King called to his men, straightening his back and lifting his chin. “Arrest Long Feng! I want him to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom!”

 

 

Later that night, after joining the Earth King at his palace to discuss their invasion plan with him and have it approved, they retired to the teashop to celebrate. “Would you like some tea?” Zuko asked everyone.

“Hey, this is actually an appropriate time to ask that,” Toph mused.

Zuko frowned at her. “Was last time an inappropriate time to ask?”

“Zuko, I snuck up on you, shot the ground up from under your feet, and threw you three feet away onto your back.”

“…I… don’t understand. That made it inappropriate?”

“Well, not _inappropriate_ , but kind of out-of-place, yeah. I mean, I’m not complaining. You make good tea.”

“Zuko and I got into a fight about his conversational skills once,” Jet put in. “He basically told me to shut up – “

“I did _not_ \- “

“ – and then a few seconds later he walked over and offered me tea.”

“What is it with you and tea?” Smellerbee wondered out loud.

Zuko shrugged. “Listen, as I’m sure all of you can tell, I’m not exactly an expert at talking to people. But not once has someone been insulted, offended, or otherwise upset when I offered them tea.”

“As abrasive as you are sometimes, I’m surprised you even care about that,” Sokka joked.

Zuko rubbed his left wrist absently. “I wasn’t exactly myself at the time.”

Sokka raised an eyebrow at him. “What does that mean?”

Zuko was blessedly saved from responding by Longshot’s arrival with a platter of tea – Zuko hadn’t even noticed him leaving, which he felt a bit bad about. “Thanks, Longshot.” Zuko accepted a cup and sniffed it. “Ginseng. Good choice. That was my uncle’s favorite.”

“That’s right!” Suki blurted out. “Your uncle, he was the Dragon of the West?”

Zuko grimaced. “I know that’s not a ringing endorsement. I can’t really defend him, either. All I know is that his son, my cousin, Lu Ten, died in the siege of Ba Sing Se, and soon after he called it off. Afterwards, all he seemed to be interested in was tea, Pai Sho, and spirits. Even once I realized just how wrong our family was… my uncle and my mother, they’re the only two people in the world who ever cared about me. My father obviously never did. My sister did, maybe, when she was very little, but she certainly doesn’t anymore and hasn’t in years. I can hardly even remember my cousin. My grandfather ordered my death and was only stopped by my mother poisoning him and framing a servant. The closest things I ever had to friends were Mai and Ty Lee, and as you can see they’re more Azula’s friends than mine and they always have been. So, yeah, my uncle wasn’t the greatest guy, but he’s important to me. _Was_ important to me.”

“My great-aunt is an ableist bull pig,” Suki revealed. “I still love her, though. I guess that’s not really as bad, but it’s still pretty shitty. So I guess I know what you mean.”

Sokka shrugged. “Hey, no judgment here. As long as you’re not planning to go the same route – and obviously you’re not, since you literally helped us save Ba Sing Se earlier today, so that was a stupid thing to say, sorry – anyway, I don’t care who you care about.”

“And it inspired your incredible tea-making skills, so it’s definitely okay with me,” Toph piped up.

Suki set her cup down. “Not to ruin the mood, but there’s something we need to talk about.” She looked directly at Jet. “Jet, Smellerbee, Longshot, you three helped us today, and that’s definitely not nothing…, but we can’t just forget about what you did before. It at least merits a discussion.”

Zuko tensed. Aang frowned at him, then turned to Suki. “Zuko trusts them.”

“Zuko is not the only member of this group,” Suki told him amusedly, which was strange, because Zuko hadn’t known he was a member of their group at all. He wondered where that would leave him if Aang and his friends couldn’t forgive the Freedom Fighters. He didn’t really want to think about it.

“Aang’s not wrong though,” Sokka reasoned. “And that’s an important point in their favor.”

Seeing that his opinion was obviously worth something to them, Zuko decided to take part in the discussion. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t be here without Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. I wouldn’t be alive without them.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” Smellerbee disagreed. “I mean, I appreciate it, but that’s an exaggeration.”

“It’s really not.” Zuko reached for his left wrist again self-consciously. He had almost forgotten, in the midst of everyone knowing he was the Blue Spirit and the former Crown Prince, that he had one secret left.

“I’ve seen you in action, Blueko. You can definitely take care of yourself. You don’t need us.”

“ _Yes_ , I _do_ ,” Zuko asserted.

“Whether he does or not, he clearly feels that he does, which is good enough for me,” Aang voiced. “I trust Zuko, and Zuko trusts you three, and he believes you’ve changed. I can’t speak for all of us, but I, for one, am ready to forgive you.”

“I wasn’t even there, so I’ve got nothing to say,” Toph put in.

Suki turned to Katara and Sokka. “You two were hurt the most, and I’ll support you no matter how you feel about this…, but I’m ready to forgive, too.”

Sokka looked to Katara. “What do you say?”

Katara shook her head. “I can’t say I forgive you for what you did to that poor town, but…, you really did help today. And you all really do seem to have changed. So if you want to keep helping us, well, we can use all the help we can get.”

Jet visibly relaxed, grinning widely at her. She rolled her eyes.

“I’ve been meaning to ask – what happened at the North Pole?” Zuko inquired. “I saw Zhao kill the Moon Spirit before I went after him, but I got knocked out during the fight and when I woke up, suddenly the moon was there again. How did that happen?”

“It was Princess Yue,” Katara explained nervously, glancing at Sokka, who held his tea closer and stared intensely at it. “I think you met her.”

“Yeah, I think I remember her.”

“She was deathly sick as an infant, but when her parents brought her to the spirit oasis, the Moon Spirit healed her, which was why her hair was so pale. When the Moon Spirit died, she realized that she had some of the Moon Spirit’s life in her, so she gave it back.”

“She sacrificed herself to bring the moon back,” Sokka murmured. Suki put an arm around his shoulders.

“Excuse me,” Aang mumbled suddenly. He got up and stepped outside, leaving his half-finished cup of tea behind. Zuko glanced around worriedly; Suki, Sokka, and Katara were all looking after Aang anxiously, and even Toph looked a bit concerned. Zuko leaned towards Suki and whispered, “Can I – Should I - ?”

“Yes,” she whispered back, touching his shoulder and smiling at him. “Go.”

Zuko set down his tea and excused himself as well. He followed Aang outside to where he stood, leaning against Appa’s side with his face in his fur. “Aang, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Aang mumbled, turning to give him the fakest smile he’d ever seen. “Just wanted to give Appa a little attention.”

“Are you sure that’s it?” Zuko challenged not unkindly, leaning against Appa on Aang’s left. “All day, you’ve seemed different. Different in a good way, in some ways, and in other ways – well, not in a _bad_ way, but maybe in a… concerning way. I mean, concerning because I care about you.”

Aang gave him a half-hearted but genuine smile then. “I’m still kind of reeling from you and Appa being alive and well, honestly. I knew that a few days ago, but I guess I didn’t really believe it until today. I….” He hesitated, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and then he confessed in a hushed voice, “I killed so many people at the North Pole, Zuko. So many. I didn’t – I didn’t mean to, but I was in the Avatar State, and I couldn’t control anything I did…. It was terrible.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Zuko said honestly. “It wasn’t right for the Ocean Spirit to use you like that.”

“She had to protect her home,” Aang disagreed. “I wish she hadn’t _killed_ them all, but she did have to use me.”

“I just wish you didn’t have to go through all this,” Zuko muttered. “It’s not right, not any of it. You shouldn’t have to do all this.”

“Well, at least I’ve got you guys,” Aang said, smiling fully. “A burden shared is a burden halved, right? So now, it’s a burden… ninthed.”

“I don’t think that’s a word, Aang.”

“It is now.”

“That’s not how language works.”

“I’m the Avatar, Zuko, I think I’m allowed to make up new words.”

Zuko shook his head, laughing lightly at Aang's ridiculousness. “I don't even know where to begin to form an argument with that.”

 

 

Zuko woke up the next morning with an oddly-shaped pillow that hadn’t been there when he’d fallen asleep. When he rolled over, he hit a barrier; another human body. He froze. That definitely hadn’t been there when he’d gone to bed, and he felt like he probably should have woken up for someone crawling into bed with him. He slowly sat up and turned to see Katara shifting beside him. He had so many questions, but the first one he asked was, “Don’t you have pajamas?”

She blinked up at him slowly. “Well, yeah, but I wasn’t expecting to need them when I came over last night.”

“…Right…, and… why did you come over last night…?”

She rose into a sitting position bringing them shoulder-to-shoulder. “I guess you don’t remember anything?” He shook his head. “You, uh, you had a nightmare and set your bedroom door on fire – “

Zuko turned to the door, which was, indeed, nonexistent.

“ – so Longshot came to make sure you were okay, and, well, please don’t feel bad about this because we both know it wasn’t on purpose and neither of us blame you for it – “

Zuko shot out of bed, whirling to face her in horror. “Did I _hurt him_?!”

“It was an accident,” Katara insisted, “you didn’t mean to, you were asleep – “

“Is he okay?!”

“He’s fine, Zuko! He came to get me immediately so I could put some water on it. It wasn’t a bad burn. He’s completely fine now.”

“I don’t understand – that still doesn’t explain why you would sleep next to me, especially after that!”

“I thought you might be feeling phantom pain in your scar, so I tried putting water on it, and, well….” Katara flushed. “You rolled over onto my hand. So I couldn’t really move without disturbing you. It worked, though, so I guess I was probably right.” She looked terribly pleased with herself. Zuko couldn’t bring himself to tell her it was probably just because his mother was the only person to ever have touched his scar without hurting him.

“…Thanks,” Zuko muttered, rubbing his face with both hands.

“If you want, we can tell everyone that you came to get me because your hand was hurting from that burn yesterday and asked me to heal it, and then because it was so late I just stayed.”

Zuko waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t care what you tell everyone. It’s probably better that everyone knows to stay away from me while I’m sleeping.” He wandered out of the bedroom to use the bathroom, and when he left, Katara was gone. He got dressed and he reached the teashop just an hour before opening time and found all of his friends already there, including Katara.

“Guess what?” Toph said excitedly to him as soon as he walked through the doors.

He had never heard her excited before, so his curiosity was piqued at once. “What happened?”

“I got a letter from my mom. She said she’s in Ba Sing Se and she wants to see me.”

“That’s great news, Toph,” Zuko told her sincerely. “You think she’s ready to talk about you using your earthbending?”

“It looked like it,” Sokka replied. “She seemed really enthusiastic about Toph teaching the Avatar to earthbend.”

Once they finished eating breakfast, Toph said her goodbyes and headed out. “What now?” Katara asked the group at large.

“The Earth King wanted us to meet with him later today to discuss the invasion with his generals,” Suki reminded everyone. “As the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, I should probably go. You too, Zuko, since you know the most about the Fire Nation. Oh, and Aang, obviously, being the Avatar.”

“Katara and I should probably go too as members of Team Avatar,” Sokka declared importantly.

“That’s not going to catch on, sweetie,” Suki informed him sadly. “But you are right.”

“The three of us can run the teashop for the day, Zuko,” Jet volunteered.

Suki frowned. “Maybe we should all go for today – although… Toph’s not here anyway. We could alternate staying here and helping plan every day. I do know how to make tea well enough. We’ll probably be here until the invasion, so it would make sense for us to have something to do to earn our keep.”

“Uh, how about being the Avatar and his friends?” Sokka pointed out.

“Exactly!” Smellerbee exclaimed, gesturing violently at him.

“I for one would like to have a little spending money without feeling like I’m taking advantage of Ba Sing Se’s wealth,” Katara disagreed, scowling at her brother. “Wealth that could be better spent on the war effort.”

“How much are you expecting to spend?” Sokka retorted.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to help doesn’t have to,” Zuko put in mildly.

“I want to!” Aang chirped, beaming at him.

“Thank you, Aang.”

Zuko, Aang, Suki, Katara, and Sokka headed over to the war meeting while Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot stayed to run the teashop. “Welcome, Avatar and friends!” King Kuei greeted them happily. “This is the Council of Five, my highest-ranking generals: General How, General Ru, General Sung, General Laan, and General Gur. Generals, this is Avatar Aang, Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors.”

“Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation?” General How echoed suspiciously.

“Former Prince,” Zuko corrected calmly. “I was banished from the Fire Nation three years ago, when my father, the Fire Lord, gave me this scar.” He briefly touched his scar before lowering his hand. “I assure you, I feel no loyalty towards the Fire Nation or its leadership. My loyalty now is to the Avatar and his allies.”

General How’s eyes softened at Zuko’s story, and he was nodding when he finished speaking. “Avatar Aang, can you confirm all this?”

“Yes, sir,” Aang affirmed gladly. “Zuko has been an ally and a friend for as long as I’ve known him. He’s saved my friends and me countless times. When I went to Avatar Roku’s temple on Crescent Island to speak with him, Zuko helped Suki and me escape from the Fire Nation admiral who was chasing us, and later infiltrated the admiral’s stronghold when I was captured in order to rescue me. He infiltrated that same admiral’s very own ship in order to get to the North Pole to help us defend the Northern Water Tribe from the Fire Nation’s siege.”

“He saved this very city just yesterday, General How,” General Sung piped up surprisingly. “Though I was unaware of his identity at the time, I watched him defend the Avatar from the Fire Lord’s daughter Princess Azula, who I now know to be his own sister, and it nearly cost him his life.”

“Well, I can hardly ignore such glowing recommendations from the Avatar himself and one of my own generals,” General How declared. “Welcome aboard, Prince Zuko. Your aid will surely be invaluable.”

“I certainly hope so,” Zuko agreed. “But I’m no prince. Just Zuko is fine.”

“When we defeat Fire Lord Ozai,” General Gur mused, “will you take over as Fire Lord?”

Zuko’s jaw dropped as everyone turned to stare at him. Though that had been the plan months ago when capturing Aang and bringing him to the Fire Nation was still an option, it hadn’t occurred to him that, should they succeed, that was still on the table. Zuko shook his head to clear his head of those thoughts. “Technically, Azula is next in the line of succession. It might be more appropriate to allow her to take his place and give her the chance to end the war and strive for peace. Unfortunately, I doubt she’ll agree. It really wouldn’t be proper for me to take the throne. Whether right or wrong, I _was_ disowned. My grandfather Azulon had a younger sister named Misazi. I don’t know whether she had any children. She never had any interest in politics as far as I can recall from my grandfather’s and father’s stories, but if we could find her once we defeat Ozai and Azula, she might be willing to either become Fire Lord or reinstate me as the Crown Prince so that I may become Fire Lord.”

General How nodded slowly. “That does make sense. If feasible, we will strive to adhere to your recommendations, although, with your consent, I reserve the right to recommend skipping certain steps to instate you as Fire Lord.”

“If necessary, you will have it when the time comes,” Zuko promised, though his stomach was doing backflips. Aang smiled brightly at him, probably with the intention of being supportive, but the backflips only intensified.

“We will have to send word to all corners of the Earth Kingdom and summon as many of our armies as we can for the invasion,” General How went on.

“I’ll send word to my warriors,” Suki offered. “However many women they can spare, I’m sure they will gladly.”

“We can send word to the North Pole, too,” Sokka added. “I bet they’ll help.”

“Oh!” Katara exclaimed. “And our father is the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He and his men went off to fight in the war years ago, but if we can find him and his men, I know they’ll help.”

“I understand you don’t draft soldiers here in the Earth Kingdom, but if any civilians wanted to volunteer just for this one fight, even as maintenance or something like that, I could teach them basic fighting skills,” Zuko volunteered. He patted his half of a sword, sheathed at his waist. “I have experience as a swordsmanship teacher.”

“That’s an unusual idea, but I will most assuredly take it into consideration,” General How decided. “As for you three, any forces you can pull to our cause will be greatly appreciated.”

“Most benders don’t fight with a weapon,” General Ru commented.

“I’m not most benders,” Zuko answered. “Despite being younger than me, Azula has always been a better firebender than I. I was drawn to swordsmanship by my desire to be better than her at something. Over the past three years, while I’ve kept up with my firebending training, swordsmanship has been my primary fighting style.” He grimaced regretfully. “Technically, this is only half of a sword. I lost the other half in the North Pole. I usually fight with a pair of blades, not just one.”

“You should have seen this guy in action when he had ‘em both,” Sokka boasted. “I mean, he’s great with just one, but with _two_? He was unstoppable.”

“We can certainly provide you with a new pair of swords,” General Ru mused. “What do you prefer?”

“Uh, dao blades,” Zuko said, surprised and still reeling from Sokka’s glowing, unsolicited praise. “Thank you.”

“I would be interested in a demonstration of your skills, Prince Zuko, at your convenience,” General Ru told him. “It’s always beneficial to spar with those of varying fighting styles. I’m sure my men would appreciate the opportunity to fight with someone who was taught dual wielding in the Fire Nation.”

“I am more than willing to help however you see fit,” Zuko replied.

“This is certainly an awesome moment in Earth Kingdom history,” General Sung declared. “For the first time in a very, very long time, the end of the war is in sight!”

The five of them exchanged excited glances. Zuko wondered if the others could possibly be feeling as content as he did. Not only was the end of the war in sight, but when it did end, Zuko could see clearer than ever before a path towards peace and prosperity for all four nations with his friends at his side.


	11. You Can Always Be Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! Trigger warning for explicit references to past child abuse.
> 
> It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's ACTUAL ZUKO/AANG ROMANTIC INTERACTION FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS STORY. I knew I'd get there someday. To be clear, they are not actually in a relationship yet. I don't want to get your hopes up. HOWEVER, there is THOROUGHLY IMPLIED ROMANCE. Oh, and this chapter is actually like 95.7% fluff, both romantic and platonic, so I hope you're all cool with that. Originally half of this was gonna be in last chapter and half of it was gonna be in next chapter but it got way too long for that so I figured I'd just give you a slightly filler chapter instead. The next two chapters might take a little longer than usual, a week each max, but after that, Chapter 14 should be really, really quick. So you should have all three within two weeks total. And the next chapter, by the way, is the last chapter of this act.
> 
> Chapter title is from Home by Phillip Phillips because I'm weak.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 11: You Can Always Be Found

Toph soon returned from her ‘visit’ with her ‘parents’ with the ability to bend metal. Over the next two weeks, they continued meeting with the generals and running the tea shop in shifts, and once Zuko was given a new pair of well-crafted dao blades, he passed his old blade to Sokka and began teaching him how to use it. Zuko, Aang, Jet, Smellerbee, Toph, and Sokka were meeting with General How, General Ru, and General Laan when after half a day of work, General How received an urgent visitor. In lieu of having them continue with General Ru and General Laan, General How said, “You’ve all been working hard. Why don’t you kids take the rest of the day off?”

“Thank you, sir!” Aang darted out of the room. The rest of them followed more sedately, although Aang darted back in, latched onto Zuko’s hand, and dragged him out at an accelerated pace. “Day off! What should we do today?”

“First, it’s only half a day off, since we already worked on the plans for half of today,” Sokka corrected. “Second, Aang, buddy, it’s been two weeks. You can’t be that desperate for a break already.”

“I know! I know!” Aang cheered, completely ignoring Sokka, who slapped himself in the face. “Toph, teach me metalbending!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow your roll there, Twinkle Toes. I might be the world’s greatest earthbender, but I need a little time to figure out this new skill by myself before I can teach it to someone else.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” Zuko declared. “Why don’t I teach you firebending?”

Aang froze, looking at him nervously. “O-Oh! Oh, um, that, that’s okay, really. I mean I don’t think I’m going to need firebending anyway since we’re going to invade the Fire Nation during the eclipse when there is no firebending right? So I better just focus on my earthbending for now. Although Toph is busy right now so I guess I can’t do that. Oh, but my waterbending could still use some work too! Great, I’m gonna go see Katara, bye now!” He hopped onto his air scooter and sped away.

Zuko watched him go, disappointed and apprehensive. He turned to his other friends. “What did I say?”

Sokka grimaced. “Aang’s got a weird thing about firebending. It’s nothing to do with you, so don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it.”

“What happened?” Zuko asked. “Maybe I can help him with whatever it is. I mean, no one knows more about firebending than I do.”

“It’s not that, Zuko.” Sokka hesitated. “Listen, someone tried to teach Aang firebending once, and it didn’t end well. He… accidentally burned Katara. It hit him hard. He hasn’t been able to think of firebending as anything but destructive ever since.”

Zuko looked down at his hands, guilt and regret tightening the muscles in his chest. “I can’t say he’s wrong.”

Jet rested a hand on his shoulder. “Zuko, we haven’t brought it up out of respect for your privacy, but… Katara told us about what happened with Longshot, and it wasn’t your fault.”

“Will you people quit saying that?” Zuko snapped, pulling away. “I burned him. How is that not my fault?”

“Uh, you were sleeping?” Sokka retorted.

“I should have had better control over my firebending.” Zuko shook his head. “You don’t understand. You aren’t firebenders.”

“Oh, really?” Smellerbee put her hands on her hips. “We don’t understand because we aren’t firebenders, or because we weren’t abused?”

Her final word seemed to echo in the area around them despite there being nothing for the sound to bounce off of. Zuko flinched violently, unfairly jarred by the word itself more than the implications. “I - _what_? What are you even talking about?”

“I’m talking about your father being an abusive piece of shit,” Smellerbee said slowly. Sokka and Jet looked at her in alarm.

“That isn’t – I wasn’t – “ The word caught in his throat, just inches away from escaping his lips. He couldn’t say it, even to deny it. He couldn’t _think_ it, and his own uncontrollable, irrational reaction to it threw him off even more.

“Don’t even try to tell me you weren’t,” Smellerbee scoffed, oblivious. “What your father did to your face – that alone was abuse, forget about all my other suspicions.”

“That was _not_ ,” Zuko disagreed, latching onto the example like a man drowning at sea latched onto driftwood. “You’re forgetting that he disowned me before he scarred my face, so that couldn’t be child abuse, because I wasn’t his child anymore.” He exhaled, his presumed triumph flooding his body with relief, but then Sokka and Jet turned back to him as Smellerbee’s expression transformed to mimic their expressions. “ _What_?” He took a step backwards.

“That’s not how abuse works,” Sokka protested, sounding genuinely confused. “Whether you were his kid or not, you were still _a kid_ , and he _hurt_ you, on _purpose_.”

“Besides that,” Smellerbee interjected, “it doesn’t matter if he disowned you or not. He was still responsible for you. He chose to have a kid and that means you’re his responsibility forever. There are no takebacks. So him hurting you after isn’t any different from him hurting you before. Especially since he was an authority figure even outside of being your father – “

“Smellerbee, _stop_ ,” Toph said urgently.

Smellerbee looked at her in disbelief. “You’re on his side?”

“Stop!” Toph shouted. “ _All of you_ , _stop_!” The three others turned to stare at her. Zuko felt exactly the same way he’d felt in the water outside of Avatar Roku’s temple right before Suki had saved him, only she wasn’t there, and he wasn’t drowning, and he didn’t know how to swim through his thunderous but intangible heartbeat and oxygen deprivation. Toph continued more calmly, “Yes, I’m on his side. This isn’t a fight. This isn’t ‘us versus Zuko.’ We should _all be on his side_.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Smellerbee scoffed. “I just meant that he was undeniably abused – “

Toph stepped close enough to grab Zuko’s hand and earthbended the ground beneath them into the air, effectively ending the conversation, and then for good measure she carried them through the air all the way back to his house. Still clutching his hand, she pulled him into his bedroom and slammed the new door closed. “Do you want a hug?” she demanded angrily.

Zuko blinked at her, his heartbeat slowing gradually as he sat down on his bed. Registering her words, he almost said ‘no,’ automatically, but then he thought about it for a few more moments and said, "Yeah." She stepped closer and hugged him almost violently, her arms pressed firmly against his upper arms and back as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. After a few seconds, he muttered, “It’s so _stupid_ \- “

“No, it’s not,” she disagreed fiercely, then seemed to realize he hadn’t finished. “…Wait, what is?”

“…It’s just…, the _word_.” She didn’t cut him off again, so he tentatively continued, “I know what the word means, and I know that it was – that I was – that it applied. I just don’t like the word itself. I don’t like hearing it and I don’t like thinking about it.”

“Well, I can tell that much,” Toph commented, arms tightening protectively around him. “Geez, your heart was going a mile a minute, I thought I was going to have a panic attack out of sympathy.”

“…You can _feel_ my _heartbeat_?” Zuko pulled back to stare at her disbelievingly.

“Yep.” She grinned smugly at him. “I can feel your heartbeat, and – “ she pointedly raised her voice – “I can hear Aang’s heart going a mile a minute while he paces back and forth outside your door. Isn’t that interesting?”

A loud, familiar squeak rang through the house as Toph slammed the door open, revealing Aang standing right outside, bright red and fumbling awkwardly with his clothes. “H-H-Hi,” he stuttered. His gaze flicked back and forth between the two of them before finally landing on Toph. “Oh! Um, I was just wondering if you – if you’ve had any time to... to work on your metalbending?”

“Twinkle Toes, I just got home,” she sighed exasperatedly. “Is that _really_ why you’re here?”

“Yep! Okay - I’m gonna go find Katara then - bye now!”

“Man, that kid is such a possum chicken,” Toph grumbled as he darted away. “You good, Zuko?”

“Sure,” Zuko said, not entirely sure what to make of that exchange.

“Cool. Come to think of it, I really should go practice my metalbending. Catch you later!” She bounded off.

Zuko headed for the tea shop, where Longshot, Katara, and Suki were running things. Katara was the one in the front taking orders. “Zuko!” she exclaimed in surprise. “You’re early! What happened to the war meeting?”

“General How had a visitor, so they sent us home early.” Zuko looked around. “Has Aang been by?” She shook her head. “That’s weird. He said he was going to go find you so you could practice waterbending, which is why I came – you know, to relieve you.”

Katara shrugged. “Maybe he decided to go practice on his own.”

“Maybe.” Zuko tilted his head. “Want me to take over?”

“That’s alright,” Katara dismissed. “You’ve been working non-stop for the past two weeks between the tea shop and the war plans.”

“No more than anyone else,” Zuko disagreed.

“Please, Zuko. I’ve seen the scrolls of notes that you review and add to every night.” She ruffled his hair affectionately. “Go have some fun, okay?”

“…Okay,” he agreed begrudgingly. He left the teashop and headed back to his house, wondering what he was supposed to do for fun in lieu of making tea. He found Sokka waiting outside. “Hey,” he said cautiously, remembering their argument earlier.

“Could I hug you?” Sokka asked hopefully.

That wasn’t what he’d expected. “…Um, okay.”

It was a very different hug from what Toph had given him. Where Toph’s hug had been fierce, Sokka’s was almost comforting. He pulled Zuko gently into his arms and put his left hand on Zuko’s back, his chin resting on Zuko’s left shoulder while his right hand reached up to run through Zuko’s hair a few times before settling. Zuko wasn’t sure what to do with his own hands, but when he eventually put them on Sokka’s back, it felt natural to rest his chin on Sokka’s shoulder too. He’d had an unprecedented number of hugs over the past two weeks, but he thought this was probably his favorite.

After a few minutes, Sokka pulled away just enough that his hands were grasping Zuko’s elbows. “I’m sorry about earlier.”

He looked so genuinely upset that Zuko couldn’t help but blurt out, “It’s okay, really. I overreacted.”

“Stop that.” Now Sokka looked even more upset. “We shouldn’t have pushed you. We were trying to help but we only made things worse. Smellerbee’s sorry too, but she wasn’t sure you’d want to see her, so she and Jet went out somewhere. Listen, after our mother died, I had a hard time talking to anyone about it. Once Gran-Gran got me to open up, I felt a bit better, and I guess I assumed that you would feel better too. But I forgot how hard it was to open up in the first place, and I forgot that those are two pretty different situations. Just know that anyone here would be more than happy to talk or to listen if you wanted them to, including me. You gotta know by now that you’re pretty important to all of us, not just Aang. Anyway, I’m sorry, and I don’t want you to apologize because you’ve got nothing to be sorry for, understand?”

“I understand.” Zuko didn’t understand, at least not entirely, but that seemed to be the thing to say because Sokka’s whole face brightened. “And… I… forgive you,” he added awkwardly. Sokka positively beamed at him.

“Can I hug you again?”

“Sokka, you can hug me whenever you like.”

“Oh-ho-ho, don’t let Katara or Aang hear you saying that,” Sokka sniggered. He gave Zuko a much brief and much more enthusiastic hug before releasing him again and taking a step backwards. “So, what are you doing now?”

“I don’t know,” Zuko exclaimed frustratedly. Sokka took another step back, raising an eyebrow at him. “I haven’t had free time in _years_!”

“So…, isn’t that a good thing?” Sokka inquired warily. “I mean, not the not-having-it part, but having it now?”

“What am I supposed to do with it?” Zuko burst out.

Sokka smirked slowly. “That’s my favorite thing that you’ve ever said. Hang on – give me until tonight and I will have a whole list of things to do in your free time, alright? It’ll be so much fun! All of us can go around trying them together!”

“Uh, alright,” Zuko agreed tentatively.

Sokka ran off in the direction of his own house. As he passed by, Aang gave him a strange look, then continued towards Zuko. “What’s up with him?”

Zuko shrugged. “He’s Sokka.”

“Oh, true.” Aang took a deep breath, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Hey, so, um, I was thinking, what are you up to tonight?”

“Well, Sokka’s got some plan for us all to spend the night doing… something. He was pretty vague.”

“Oh.” Aang deflated for a few seconds, his head hanging, and then shot back up. “What are you doing right now?”

Zuko groaned. “I have _no idea_. Seriously, if you have any ideas, lay ‘em on me.”

Aang’s face broke into an earsplitting grin. “Well, I was wandering around yesterday after the tea shop closed down, and it turns out there’s a restaurant pretty close that serves a wide variety of food from all over the world. I was on my way there right now, actually. Wanna come with?”

“Sure,” Zuko agreed. “That sounds nice.”

If Aang’s grin widened any further, it was going to actually split his ears. “Great! Let’s go!” Aang turned around and started walking.

As he followed, Zuko realized something strange. “Wait, I thought you said you were on your way there?” Aang tripped over nothing, and Zuko lunged forward to catch his arm and stop his fall. “Are you okay?!”

“Yeah, fine,” Aang choked out, resuming his pace. “Uh, well – okay, the truth is I really… didn’t want to go alone.”

“Oh.” Zuko cocked his head to the side. “Do you want to see if Sokka and Toph want to come too, then?”

“No!” Aang hastily corrected. “I mean, no. I’d rather go just the two of us, if that’s okay.”

Zuko wasn’t sure why Aang would want to go with just him, but he couldn’t say he minded. “Of course.”

Aang’s shoulders sank as he relaxed a bit. “Okay. Great. So…, how do you like Ba Sing Se?”

“Well, since I’ve gotten here, all I’ve really done is make tea and plot my father’s demise, and those are my two favorite things.”

Aang laughed, but when Zuko failed to laugh with him, he stopped and gave him a funny look. “Oh, you weren’t kidding!”

“Why do people always think I’m kidding?” Zuko wondered.

“Well, no one can tell when you are and aren’t,” Aang explained. “So every time you say something funny, they assume you’re kidding. Try this!” He reached up and pinched the corners of Zuko’s lips before pulling. “Nope, now you just look like you’re pouting. Let me try again – “ With each of his index fingers, Aang poked his chin right below the corners of his lips and pushed up. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds before Aang released him and burst into laughter. “Never mind! That was a terrible idea!”

“You think?” Zuko retorted, but the corners of his lips quirked upwards without Aang’s interference.

“Like that!” Aang exclaimed. “There! Just make that face when you’re kidding and people will stop assuming you are when you aren’t.”

“I’ll do that,” Zuko agreed warmly.

Aang pointed to something over Zuko’s shoulder. “Oh! There’s the restaurant!”

When they reached the building, a man in a strange amalgamation of colorful articles of clothing and accessories greeted them. Before he could say a word, he took in Aang’s appearance, and his jaw dropped. “My goodness!” the man gasped. He bowed swiftly. “My name is Fushur and it is my very great honor to meet you, Avatar Aang.”

“Oh!” Aang said, startled. He glanced quickly at Zuko. “Thank you, it’s good to meet you too – this is my friend – “

“Xin,” Zuko introduced himself, smiling. “Aang’s friend.”

“It is an honor to meet you too, Xin.” Fushur straightened out. “Are you here to try some of our exquisite cuisine? We happen to have several Air Nomad dishes on the menu – “

“Really?” Aang gasped. Zuko watched in fond amusement at the way Aang’s whole countenance shifted, growing exponentially brighter.

Fushur flushed. “W-Well, I can’t – I can’t guarantee authenticity, since no one’s ever met a real Air Nomad – but I can promise that we have extensively studied the cuisine and no one could possibly have replicated it better than we have here.”

“That’s so cool!” Aang exclaimed.

“Would you like me to seat you?” Fushur offered, seeming almost as excited as Aang by the prospect. Aang nodded vigorously, so Fushur led them to an open table and handed them a couple of menus.

“Potato curry…, vegetable dumplings…, cucumber mint soup!” Aang looked up at Zuko with a delighted grin. “They have cucumber mint soup, Z- Xin!”

Zuko hummed indulgently. It was good to see Aang so carefree again, like he had been the first few times Zuko had met him and tried to kidnap him. He could almost imagine the weight of the world didn’t rest on Aang’s shoulders the rest of the time. “Come to think of it,” he mused, “they have dumplings in the Fire Nation, too…. Maybe not vegetable ones, though. Not a lot of vegetarians. Hey, look! Smoked sea slug! They’ve actually got some Fire Nation stuff here too.”

Aang made a face. “Sea slug?”

“Yes, sea slug. What, and cucumber mint soup is so much better?” A waiter came by, and they placed their orders. “You have your tastes, I have mine.”

Aang waved a pair of chopsticks at him threateningly. “I’m gonna make you try it.”

“Okay, that’s not fair at all,” Zuko protested. “You’re a vegetarian. You can’t try mine.”

“Sucks to be you, then, doesn’t it?”

 

 

As they walked home later that day, Aang asked Zuko, “How come you didn’t tell them your real name, anyway?”

“I’d rather not draw attention to myself,” Zuko admitted.

“I don’t get it.” Aang watched him quizzically. “King Kuei said it was okay for you to be here since you’re on our side and everything. Why don’t you want people to know who you are?”

“They wouldn’t understand. People think Fire Nation, they think ‘bad guys.’ That’s just how it is. That’s how it is everywhere. Except, of course, in the Fire Nation, where my name is probably synonymous with dishonorable now.”

“You’re different,” Aang insisted. “You’re a good guy. If I vouched for you, everyone would believe it.”

“I wouldn’t sully your name with mine.”

“ _What_?!”

“Aang, you’re the Avatar,” Zuko said frustratedly. “And I’m the Fire Lord’s son. You don’t want to make our friendship too public.”

“But you’re _not_ ,” Aang countered. “You said it yourself. You’re not his son anymore. If we just showed everyone the wanted poster – “

“That’s much better. You’re friends with a wanted man.”

“But you’re wanted because you warned us about Zhao,” Aang exploded. “Because you’re a good guy!”

“That’s just not how people see it. It’s their gut reactions. They see Fire Nation, they think ‘evil.’ They see wanted, they think ‘evil.’ Putting the two together would be even worse. They would just be wondering what the Fire Lord’s own son did that was so awful he had to disown and banish him. What’s the big deal, anyway? Why is it so important to you that people know who I am?”

“Because they _should_.” Aang scowled at the ground. “They should know who saved them from Azula, who saved me from Zhao and Suki, Katara, and Sokka from those pirates. You deserve credit for these things, Zuko. I don’t know why you won’t accept it. I mean, you won’t even tell us how you got your scar but I already know that whatever it was, it made your father mad so it must have been a good thing, and you act like you’re – like you’re ashamed of it!”

“You have no idea how I got this,” Zuko snapped, reaching up to touch it with his left hand almost automatically. “And you don’t get to tell me how to feel about my scar.”

“Maybe not.” Aang took his hand, inadvertently brushing his fingertips along Zuko’s scar, and pulled it away from Zuko’s face cautiously as if waiting for resistance. When none came he lowered their hands but kept their fingers intertwined. “But I like it. It’s part of you, and I like you, so I like it, too. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Zuko shrugged, blood rushing to his cheeks. “Of course it does. Your opinion means everything to me, Aang.”

“I feel them coming!” Toph’s voice shouted from a distance. Aang released his hand as if burned, and the two of them picked up the pace without looking at each other as they approached Aang’s house, where all of their friends were gathered outside. Smellerbee met his gaze nervously, but when he nodded and hesitantly smiled at her, she relaxed, smiling back. “Took your sweet old time,” Toph remarked.

Zuko glanced up at the sky. “It’s not even dark yet.”

Toph sighed exaggeratedly. “Yeah, well, Sokka decided it was time for ‘team bonding.’”

“Team bonding is important!” Sokka insisted. “We’re gonna be here for a while until the invasion, right? We might as well make the most of it! I’ve got a whole schedule planned out!” He pulled a scroll out of his bag and unrolled it, allowing it to flow from his hand all the way down to his feet.

“Sokka, no,” Katara said, horrified. “How long does that schedule go on for?”

“Until the invasion!”

“Sokka, _no_ ,” Suki echoed, shaking her head at him.

“This way we make the most out of our time here!” Sokka protested.

“I’m on his side,” Smellerbee declared. “If we have a schedule, we can make sure we get as much done as we can.”

“I don’t care about getting stuff done,” Toph retorted. “It’s supposed to be fun. How is it fun to live by a schedule?”

“Because with the schedule,” Sokka shook the scroll emphatically, “we do even more fun things!”

“It would have been nice if you’d consulted us before making that schedule,” Katara pointed out, peering at it. “I mean, a puppet show? Really, Sokka?”

“Sokka, could you get any lamer?” Toph complained.

“Hey, I think a puppet show could be fun!” Aang defended.

“How about we go find an underground fight club?” Jet suggested, cracking his knuckles as he grinned. “There’s gotta be one somewhere in Ba Sing Se, at least in the Lower Ring.”

“No thanks. I’ve had enough fighting for the past few months,” Katara rejected. “I’d rather go to a spa or something.”

“A spa?” Sokka wrinkled his nose. “You wanna go soak in some water? Isn’t that basically what you do when you fight, anyway?”

“ _Excuse me_?”

“I’m just saying, puppet shows are something you’re not gonna find easily outside of Ba Sing Se.”

Longshot made his way to stand beside Sokka and patted his back supportively.

“I’ve never felt so betrayed,” Jet exclaimed.

“Longshot, what the heck?” Smellerbee added.

“I thought you liked the schedule, Smellerbee!” Sokka cried.

“Before I found out there was a puppet show on it!”

Although the words being spoken were harsh, it was easy to see and hear that the arguing was friendly and good-natured. Zuko smiled despite himself, something deep in his chest shifting and clicking into place as he watched the scene unfold. It felt good to be a part of something, for once. It felt good to look around and see so many people all in one place who he cared about, who cared about him, who he could trust and who trusted him right back.

Eventually, they settled on going to see a play, and later that night, Zuko prepared for bed while his other three housemates chatted about it. Halfway through brushing his teeth, his eyes flew wide open. He spat out the toothpaste early and wandered back to the living room without rinsing his mouth. “Was that a date?” he blurted out thoughtlessly.

It was only at their startled expressions that he realized that he hadn’t even taken a second to think about the question himself before consulting them. “Sit down,” Jet instructed, patting the seat next to him vigorously. There was no way out of this conversation now. Zuko obediently sat beside Jet, squirming under the intense stares from all three of them. “You’re talking about going to the restaurant earlier with Aang?” Zuko nodded. “Exactly how did he ask you?”

“Well, he came over here and asked me if I wanted to go with him to a restaurant – actually, he said he was on his way there, but then he led me back the way he came to get there – and then earlier, when Toph and I were in my room, he was pacing outside and Toph said something about his heart going really, really fast – she can feel it, with earthbending. He said he was there to speak with Toph but I don’t know how he could have known she was there. That doesn’t make any sense. None of this adds up.”

“It absolutely adds up!” Jet clapped him on the back, grinning madly. “Good for you! I mean, we could all tell you liked him. At least, the three of us could. I’ve never seen you smile at anyone that way – actually, I’ve never seen you smile at anyone – actually, I’ve never seen you smile.”

“He told me to smile more,” Zuko muttered, mostly to himself, as he leaned his elbows on his knees and rubbed his temples pensively. “He said he liked my scar. Because it was part of me.”

“Aw!” Zuko, Jet, and Longshot slowly looked up in shock at Smellerbee, who shrugged unashamedly. “What? I’m not allowed to be a girl sometimes?”

“What now?” Zuko asked them, drawing their attention back to him.

Jet frowned at him. “You do like him, right?”

“I do.”

“So go talk to him tomorrow and ask him on a real date! Explicitly!”

 

 

Zuko didn’t get the chance to talk to Aang the next morning. Someone came by with two pieces of mail; one for Sokka and Katara, and one for Zuko.

“I don’t believe it!” Katara exclaimed. “It’s an intelligence report – Sokka, our father is at Chameleon Bay!”

“You’re kidding!” Sokka yanked it out of her hands to scan it himself.

She put her hands on her hips. “I can _read_ , Sokka.”

“I know, I know, I just – this is incredible!”

The two of them hugged each other. Zuko opened his own piece of mail, a letter.

_Dear Zuko,_

_I hope this letter finds you in good health. You were always one of my favorite pupils, and I was saddened greatly by your banishment. I would have reached out sooner, but judging by the way you all but vanished after your mother’s tragic passing, it seemed you were actively attempting to stay under the radar, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to impede that. However, I heard recently that you united with the Avatar in Ba Sing Se. I want to commend you for finding your own place in the world beyond your father’s influence._

_I would very much like to do so in-person, if such a thing could be arranged. I will be staying with two friends at the Eastern Air Temple for the foreseeable future, which is how I am confident this message will reach you before it is intercepted. If it is convenient, I implore you to visit._

_Master Piandao_

“It’s my old swordsmanship instructor,” Zuko exclaimed. “He’s at the Eastern Air Temple. He wants to see me!”


	12. Turn to Dust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT!!! Trigger warning for references to a past suicide attempt and dissociation.
> 
> Last chapter for Act 2. Bit of a cliffhanger at the end, and just to warn you, it doesn't get resolved until the END of NEXT chapter, which is, by the way, an interlude, not the beginning of Act 3. The theme song for this is To Build a Home by Cinematic Orchestra. If you can, I highly recommend you listen to it either before or while reading this. I think it really sets the tone for the chapter - the music, the voice, the lyrics, everything about it.
> 
> Chapter title is (obviously) from To Build a Home by Cinematic Orchestra.

#### Act 2: The Teamaker

#### Chapter 12: Turn to Dust

“I can’t believe we’re splitting up,” Suki said sadly. “I mean, I’m so, so happy for you and Katara, and for you too, Zuko, and I know it has to be this way, but I wish it didn’t.”

“It’s just a week,” Sokka told her, wrapping an arm around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “We’ll be back before you know it, okay?” Suki nodded silently, leaning into him. Aang was having a similar conversation with Appa outside the teashop, just a little less verbally. Katara sat between Zuko and Sokka, excitement etched into every inch of her visage, and Toph was on Zuko’s other side, her head resting on the arm of the chair closer to him with her feet propped up on the other side. Jet and Smellerbee were whispering nearby, stealing glances at all of them when they thought no one was looking. As far as Zuko could tell, they’d been successful in not arousing suspicions so far; he seemed to be the lone exception, and he doubted any of the others had his levels of paranoia-induced hyperawareness.

The two whisperers finally ceased their whispering and joined the rest of the group. “Where’s Aang?” Jet asked.

“He’s outside. I’ll get him.” Toph headed outside. Zuko watched as she wordlessly and unceremoniously took Aang by the back of his shirt and dragging him into the closed teashop, leaving him to stumble backwards for fear of falling over. “Okay, got him. Go ahead, Jet.”

Uncharacteristically pink-faced, Jet held a bag out in front of him and pulled something out of it. It looked like a scarf, maybe, but very distinctly… handmade. It was pale green and deep navy blue, and there was writing on the bottom, well-done but impossible to read from Zuko’s distance. He handed it to Suki, and then he pulled out a blue and white one to give to Sokka, and then a matching one for Katara. “Jet, did you make these?” Katara demanded, sounding impressed.

Jet’s back straightened at once as he shot her a cocky grin. “I did.”

“These look really, really good!”

“She’s right,” Zuko confirmed as he admired the black and forest green scarf in his own hands. At the bottom, the inscription read, _Zuko – Team Avatar – Swordsman_. He peered over Katara’s shoulder and saw that hers read, _Katara – Team Avatar – Waterbender_ , and wasn’t quite sure what to think of Jet’s decision not to write _Firebender_ on his, although he knew it was made with only the best of intentions. “When did you learn to knit?”

“My father taught me,” Jet admitted. “So you all like them?”

“I’m never taking mine off!” Aang declared, wrapping his pale yellow and bright orange scarf around his neck one, two, three, four times.

Toph felt around the scarf, her fingers pausing at the bottom. “Is there writing on this? Someone tell me what it says.”

Suki took it from her. “Toph, Team Avatar, Metalbender.”

“Alright, I love the ‘metalbender’ touch, but did you really officially name us ‘Team Avatar?’”

“Yes!” Sokka punched the air triumphantly and high-fived Jet. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

Longshot walked out with a tray of cups of tea and began handing them out.

“One last cup for the road,” Sokka mused. He lifted his tea. “To Team Avatar!”

“I’m not toasting that,” Toph stated.

“To Team Avatar,” Zuko joined in. Jet, Suki, Smellerbee and Aang joined in too, followed by a reluctant Katara. “Come on, Toph. Just say it.”

“Team Avatar,” she grumbled.

Longshot lifted his cup, too. “Team Avatar.” Everyone stared at him in shock. He quirked an eyebrow in silent amusement.

As everyone around them started questioning Longshot to no avail, Aang walked over to Zuko, looking at the ground. “Could we talk for a second?”

“Sure,” Zuko said, ignoring his suddenly accelerated heartbeat and valiantly crushing the blood rushing to his head before it could reach his cheeks. He followed Aang to the empty back of the tea shop. “What is it?”

Aang set his cup to the side and met Zuko’s gaze. “You’re going to be careful, right?”

“Of course,” Zuko agreed, startled.

“You’re not going to do anything crazy, like, like sneak onto an admiral’s ship, or tackle your crazy sister, or jump into the ocean when you don’t know how to swim – “

“First of all, Katara’s been teaching me to swim in the pool nearby.” That obviously wasn’t the reaction Aang was hoping before, judging by the way his entire body drooped after he spoke. He had a funny feeling Aang wasn’t going to like what he said next, but it was true, so he said it anyway. “Second, all of those were the best plans I possibly could have come up with under the current situations.”

“No.” Aang shook his head fiercely. “You always act on impulse to keep us safe, and you never think about how to keep yourself safe. That’s what I’m asking you to do. Next time it’s you and someone you trust against someone like Azula, I don’t want you to just take one for the team, I want you to let them help.” His voice hardened. “And I want you to put your life before _revenge_ or whatever it was that made you go after Zhao that night at the North Pole.”

“I – “

Aang cut him off, lightly jabbing him in the chest with his index finger. “And I already know you won’t do that for your own sake, for some reason, so now I’m asking you to do it for my sake. _Please_. I’ve lost everyone I ever knew. I can’t lose you. Promise me you’ll try to come back to me. Promise me you’ll put your own life on equal ground with everyone else’s lives. Stop sacrificing yourself. Come back.”

“I will,” Zuko promised. It was much easier to make than his last promise, despite them being virtually the same. This time, he had no desire to do anything else. “I’ll come back.”

Aang smiled at him, relieved. “Okay. Good. I know you can’t control what happens to you, but just knowing that you’re really going to do your best makes me feel better.”

“I will,” Zuko repeated, smiling back. Aang started to walk away back to their friends, but something made Zuko reach out and grasp Aang’s wrist, holding him back. It wasn’t the right time to talk about their date, not when they were about to be separated for a week. He knew that. Still, it didn’t feel right to leave without saying something to let Aang know that he wasn’t just another friend, that he was special to Zuko. “I was thirteen. I was too young to go to a war meeting, but I convinced my uncle to let me go with him anyway. He told me not to speak or stand up, to just observe. One of the generals was telling everyone about his plan to distract a group of experienced Earth Kingdom soldiers with a group of new recruits. He wanted to use them as bait. I stood up and told him off. He challenged me to an Agni Kai, a fire duel, and I accepted.” Zuko grimaced. “What I didn’t realize was that he was challenging me as one of my father’s generals on behalf of my father. At the Agni Kai, it was my father waiting for me. He told me to fight, and I should have. It wasn’t like he’d never hurt me before. I didn’t fight him. He scarred my face to give me and anyone who looked at me a permanent reminder of my weakness.”

“Oh, _Zuko_.” Aang pulled his wrist out of Zuko’s hand to take the hand between both of his. “Zuko, that isn’t weakness. That’s strength. As little as he deserved it, you loved your father. You refused to hurt him even though he hurt you. That is the most incredible kind of strength.” He reached out, slowly enough that Zuko had time to move away if he so desired, and gently placed his palm against the scar. Zuko’s left eye closed at once from the contact, and out of instinct his right eye followed swiftly. “This scar,” Aang told him in a hushed voice, much closer than he had been a few seconds ago, “is _not_ weakness. It’s strength. I hope you always see your reflection and remember that, Zuko.” His hand fell away from Zuko’s cheek, but the warmth was soon replaced by warm breath on his cheek, and before Zuko could register the new sensation, Aang placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

Zuko opened his eyes immediately, stunned, but Aang was already gone, the door to the front of the teashop sliding shut as he turned to look. _Typical airbender,_ Toph’s voice remarked in his head, and he pressed a fist against his lips to stifle an abrupt and very out-of-place snicker. That was as close to proof of Aang’s feelings as he possibly could have hoped for, just one step below an outright confession in terms of concreteness. Even he couldn’t possibly misinterpret _that_. He took a second to compose himself and then he followed Aang back into the main tea shop. Aang wasn’t there anymore, though that was to be expected. “Sokka and Katara are outside on Appa,” Jet informed him. He gave Zuko a pointed look.

“Your heart’s going pretty fast there, Zuko,” Toph commented, somehow both nonchalant and smug at the same time. “Wonder what that’s about.”

Zuko didn’t stand a chance of fighting his blush that time. Before he could respond, Suki rose with an amused, “Give the poor boy a break, Toph,” and crossed the room in a couple quick strides. “Come back,” she told him firmly, putting her arms around his neck to give him a quick, tight hug. “You hear me?”

Toph got up too to punch him in the arm more gently than she used to. “I like you, and I don’t like a lot of people, so you better do whatever it takes to get back here.”

“I’m visiting a friend, not going off to war,” Zuko teased, punching her back.

Smellerbee gasped. “Did Blueko just make a joke?”

“Someone tell the Earth King,” Jet declared mock-urgently. “We’ve got an imposter.”

“You’re hilarious,” Zuko told them. “Really. Absolutely hysterical.”

“We know,” Jet assured him. He, Smellerbee, and Longshot then proceeded to tackle him in a particularly enthusiastic group hug.

When they pulled away, Longshot scowled suspiciously at him and looked pointedly at Toph and Suki.

“Yes, I promise I’ll come back,” Zuko sighed. He didn’t know how he had ended up making that promise to so many people. It felt like an awful lot of responsibility, having so many people whose happiness depended on his survival. “As long as I don’t have to kill or permanently maim anyone to do so.”

“Maiming is fine,” Jet told him. Suki, Smellerbee, and Longshot nodded emphatically while Toph voiced her approval.

“Okay, I will maim people to get home. But no murder.”

“I guess that’s good enough,” Suki conceded evenly.

Zuko left the teashop and joined Sokka in Appa’s saddle. Katara glanced over her shoulder at him, looking vaguely disappointed. “Just you?” she said.

Zuko knew better than to take offense from a comment by Katara, but the comment still confused him. “Meaning?”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I figured.”

“I just meant – I didn’t mean anything. Anything at all.” The hopeful glances she sent every which way thoroughly belied her dismissal. Between that and Sokka’s not-so-inconspicuous peering at the teashop, Zuko felt very much like he was missing something.

The tea shop door flew open hard enough that Zuko feared for his safety. A yellow-and-orange blur sped through the doorway and Aang materialized before them. “Can I come?” he blurted out.

Zuko heard twin sighs of relief behind him and stored them away for later analysis. “He’s your bison,” he pointed out amusedly. “We can hardly stop you.”

Sokka slung an arm around Zuko’s neck and added loudly, “What Zuko here means is that we would _love_ to have you join us.”

Zuko shrugged. “It was implied.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“It was.”

“It really wasn’t,” Katara called from Appa’s head.

“We would love to have you join us,” Zuko parroted at Aang. He turned back to Sokka. “Was that explicit enough for you?”

“You could be a little nicer about it,” Katara put in.

Zuko turned back to Aang. “Avatar Aang, it would be my utmost, immeasurable honor to host you on your own bison while I travel to a temple belonging to your people. Truly, there are no words to describe the sheer joy I experience just from imagining it. I can’t possibly begin – “

“Okay, okay, enough!” Sokka lightly shoved Zuko and scooted away. “Just get in, Aang, before he runs out of fancy words.”

Aang laughed and hopped onto Appa’s head to replace Katara, who settled in the saddle with Zuko and Sokka. As they flew away from Ba Sing Se, Sokka and Katara started bickering about something. Zuko leaned against the edge of Appa’s saddle closest to Aang. The other two weren’t looking or listening, but on the off-chance one of them tuned in however briefly, he didn’t want to say anything incriminating before he and Aang had had a chance to speak in private. “Hey,” he said softly. Aang glanced over his shoulder, and Zuko smiled at him as widely as he could.

“Hey,” Aang responded, pink-faced and smiling back.

Zuko didn’t realize how long they’d been smiling until Sokka complained, “Are we really going to spend the whole ride watching you two make faces at each other? Really?”

 

 

Within a day, they settled down on Chameleon Bay near some Southern Water Tribe ships. “Guys, wait,” Aang said to Sokka and Katara before they left Appa. He turned to Zuko. “Are you going to use your real name, or Xin?”

“Why wouldn’t he use his real name?” Sokka asked in confusion, resting his chin on Zuko’s left shoulder from behind as he threw his arm over Zuko’s right shoulder.

“I wasn’t planning on using any name,” Zuko muttered, wondering when Sokka had gotten so clingy. He wondered if Sokka had taken his open invitation for hugs to mean he wanted more of them. He couldn’t say he minded. Sokka gave very good hugs. He was sort of like a portable blanket. “I was just gonna stay here until Aang got back.”

“But don’t you want to meet our father?” Katara objected.

Zuko squirmed uncomfortably under her questioning gaze. “Do you want me to?”

“…Yes?”

Zuko glanced helplessly at Aang, who grinned at him. “…Okay. What name do you two want me to use?”

“…Zuko?” Katara was giving him a very strange look.

“Okay, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Great, then let’s go!” Sokka cheered. He released Zuko and threw himself out of the saddle, Katara hot on his heels. Zuko and Aang followed just a little more sedately and kept behind the other two. As they reached the camp, men started to look up, their faces briefly showing alarm before breaking into delighted recognition. Sokka’s and Katara’s names traveled through the camp in hushed, awed whispers until one man approached them and pulled them into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you two again,” he told them with a warm smile. “You too, Aang – and who’s this?”

“This is our friend Zuko,” Katara explained. Zuko was relieved when Bato’s expression didn’t falter – evidently he didn’t recognize the name. Unfortunately, Zuko’s relief was short-lived. “He was the Fire Lord’s son, but he was banished three years ago and he’s on our side now.”

“He taught me how to use a sword,” Sokka chirped.

Bato considered Zuko carefully. He seemed quite calm in the face of Katara’s revelation, so Zuko decided it would be safe to put his two copper in. “Sir, the Fire Lord gave me this scar. My loyalty is towards my friends now – Aang, Sokka, and Katara, and our other friends back home.”

Bato’s face softened substantially. In hindsight, perhaps the scar on Zuko’s face was the best thing his father could have given him as a parting gift. Nothing had ever endeared him to someone faster than his scar’s origin. “Well, it’s good to meet you, Zuko. Er, Prince Zuko?”

“Just Zuko,” Zuko corrected. “It’s good to meet you too.”

Bato led them to the tent where Hakoda was. Zuko and Aang let the three Water Tribe members go in without them. A few minutes later, they reappeared with another Water Tribe member. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both, Avatar Aang, Zuko,” Hakoda greeted them.

“You too, Chief Hakoda. Sokka and Katara have told us so much about you,” Aang replied cheerfully.

The six of them chatted for a short while longer before Zuko and Aang said their goodbyes and headed back to Appa. Zuko pulled a map out of his bag and looked at it pensively. “Would you…” He looked back up at Aang. “Would you mind if we took a detour? A long detour. About a day from here and then another day from the temple.”

“It’s up to you,” Aang told him.

Zuko nodded. “Okay. Then, if you don’t mind,” he pointed close to the bottom of the map, “I’d like to stop here.”

 

 

A day later, they landed in a small Earth Kingdom village.

“Is that…?”

“It’s the Avatar!”

“The Avatar? What is the Avatar doing here?”

Zuko slid off of Appa’s back, and the whispers changed to excited shouts.

“It’s Xin!”

“Xin? No way!”

“He came back!”

Zuko laughed as four kids tackled him all at once. “Baomu, Ishen, Holi, Bonoh,” he greeted them, ruffling their hair as efficiently as he could with only two hands.

Bonoh latched onto his hand and tugged him away from the other kids. “Come on, let’s go tell Lee! He’ll be so excited to see you!” Zuko quickly took Aang’s hand too. Bonoh led them away from the center of the village down a familiar path at the end of which sat a very, very familiar house.

Before they reached the door, the door burst open. Sela ran forward and yanked Zuko into her arms, holding him so tightly he couldn’t move his own arms to hug her back, although he managed to at least maintain his grip on Aang’s hand. “It’s so good to see you again,” Zuko told her, smiling into her shoulder despite the vaguely uncomfortable position.

“Xin!” Sela released him as Lee came running out of the house. Zuko caught him and finally let go of Aang so he could lift Lee into the air and give him a proper hug. Lee latched onto his neck. “You came back,” he whispered disbelievingly. “I thought that crazy lady was gonna kill you!”

Zuko very, very nearly pointed out that Azula would sooner torture him into insanity than kill him, but it occurred to him at the last second that maybe that wasn’t appropriate to say to someone so young. Instead he said, “I’m not that easy to kill.”

Lee pulled back, tears forming in his eyes. Zuko’s gaze sharpened. Something was wrong. He glanced back and forth between Lee and Sela as he set the former down. “What happened?”

Sela grimaced. “Let’s talk inside.” She led them inside, but paused in the doorway, glancing back between Zuko and Aang where their hands had already reunited. “Xin, you didn’t tell me the Avatar was your boyfriend.”

“The Avatar wasn’t my boyfriend,” Zuko grouched, and nearly tripped when the unintentional implications of what he’d said caught up with him. Well. If he’d somehow miscalculated, that was going to be pretty awkward. Aang squeezed his hand reassuringly, so he thought he was probably okay.

Sela led them to the table. “Xin, would you help me make some tea?”

“Of course.” Zuko left Aang and Lee and followed her into the kitchen. “Where’s Gansu?” he asked apprehensively.

Sela bit her lip as she scooped some water into a pot. “My other son, Sensu, went missing,” she replied quietly. “Gansu went to find him. That was weeks ago.”

Zuko gently grasped her wrist, stopping her in her actions. He rested a hand on her shoulder and tugged so that she was facing him. Then he pulled her into a careful hug not unlike the one Sokka had given him a few days ago. “Sela, I’m so sorry.”

Sela pressed her face into his shoulder for a few moments, then pulled away to smile at him. “How are you doing, Xin?” She gingerly brushed her fingers against his left wrist, tilting her head at him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m great,” Zuko promised. “Really, really great.”

Sela raised an eyebrow knowingly at him. “Hmm. I wonder if that’s anything to do with the Avatar playing Four Nations with my youngest son in the living room.”

“It is,” Zuko admitted. “But it’s not just him. I’ve got friends now, too, a whole group of people who really, genuinely care about me.”

Sela patted his right cheek affectionately. “I’m so happy to hear that, Xin.” She poured the tea into four cups, and Zuko realized belatedly that he hadn’t actually helped at all. The two of them went back into the living room and Zuko sat between Aang and Lee while Sela served the tea and sat down opposite him.

“Xin, why didn’t you tell us you were a prince?” Lee demanded excitedly. “And why didn’t you tell us your real name was Zuko?”

Zuko glanced at Sela in surprise. She sighed. “I tried to keep the poster from him, but when he found out there was something about you we were keeping from him, well, he made it his business to find out.”

Zuko turned back to Lee. “If you saw the poster, you know I’m wanted. You know I’m from the Fire Nation.”

“Yeah.”

“If I told you who I was,” Zuko explained, choosing his words carefully, “all three of you would have been legally required to tell the authorities. And I trust you! Of course I do. But if you knew who I was, and you chose not to tell anyone, then when Azula, my sister, that crazy lady, came looking for me, she would have been really, really mad at you guys. She probably would have thrown both of your parents in jail.”

“So you were protecting us?” Lee beamed at him. “You’re so brave, Xin. Er, Zuko. What do people usually call me?”

Zuko ruffled his hair. “Zuko,” he answered.

“Can I call you Prince Zuko?”

“ _No_!”

Zuko and Aang ended up spending the night there, with Zuko sharing Lee’s room and Aang taking his old one. They left bright and early the next morning before anyone was likely to come investigate claims of Zuko’s reappearance, on the off-chance that one of the villagers reported them. Sela and Lee walked them to Appa, who had settled right outside their house for the night. Zuko knelt in front of Lee and pulled his knife out of his bag. “My uncle gave me this when I was ten,” he told him quietly, looking at him seriously. “I want you to have it.”

Wide-eyed, Lee took the knife from him and pulled it from its sheath. “’Never give up without a fight,’” he read. He gingerly sheathed it again and threw his arms around Zuko’s neck. “Promise you’ll come back,” he mumbled into Zuko’s shoulder. “ _Promise me_.”

“Shh. I promise. I’ll come back, Lee.”

Sela was next, hugging him just as tightly as she had the day before. She turned to Aang next. “It was good to meet you, Aang.”

“You too,” he answered. “I’ll keep Zuko safe for you. I’ll bring him back to you.”

Sela hugged him too, and then they two of them boarded Appa. “Yip yip!” Aang said. As soon as they were out of the village, Aang asked, “How did you meet those two?” The question bursting from him like he’d been holding it in the whole time. “And how do all those villagers know you so well? I mean, you’re a super likeable person! But you’re usually pretty anti-social. You must have been here a long time!”

“Three weeks,” Zuko replied. “Sela and her husband, Gansu, saved my life, and then they insisted I stay with them while I healed, so I started teaching villagers to swordfight for money so I could repay them.” He came so close to telling Aang the whole story about how they’d saved him, but as his fingers pressed against a thin white line on his left wrist, he decided that some things were better kept secret.

“I _am_ going to bring you back to them,” Aang told him, meeting his eyes. “I am.”

“I believe you,” Zuko assured him, and he meant it. “I’m going to bring you back, too.”

Aang laughed. “Of course. I still want to meet Sensu and Gansu. What are they like?”

“Gansu is great. He’s very protective of his family, which makes him seem a bit intimidating, but he’s really very kind and very supportive. I’ve… never actually met Sensu,” Zuko admitted. “I have no idea what he’s like.” He clasped his hands on his lap and rubbed his thumbs together pensively.

As if reading his mind, Aang turned around and, keeping his left hand on the reins, placed his right hand comfortingly on Zuko’s knee. “I’m sure he’ll like you. I can’t imagine anyone not liking you!”

“Azula,” Zuko commented off-handedly. “My father. Zhao…. June.”

“ _June,_ ” Aang echoed in disgust. “I hope we never see her again.”

“Yeah, you and me both,” Zuko snorted. “You know what? There’s a Fire Nation intern named Terong who probably doesn’t like me much. He’s probably not an intern anymore, come to think of it, which is my fault, which is why he probably doesn’t like me.” Aang laughed, so Zuko kept going. “Those Fire Sages from Avatar Roku’s temple - I bet they’re not too fond of me. Oh!”

“’Oh’ what?”

“No, Oh. That’s his name. He’s one of the pirates who tried to kill Suki, Sokka, and Katara, and tried to kidnap you. I bet none of them like me. Jet, Smellerbee, and I broke into New Ozai in disguise and held the governor there hostage until they told me where an associate of mine went. He wouldn’t like me anymore if he knew it was me. The four soldiers and the general that we beat up to take their money and uniforms don’t like me. General Bujing, that guy who challenged me to an Agni Kai before I was banished, _definitely_ doesn’t like me. There’s a guy in jail in Chin Village named Hao who I put in jail back when I was the Blue Spirit. He doesn’t like me.”

“But Zuko, all of those guys are bad guys – wait, _Chin Village_?” Aang wrinkled his nose. “How sure are you that that guy was a criminal?”

“He killed two people.”

“Did he kill two people, or did his past life kill two people?”

“No, Aang, he killed two people.”

“Just making sure.”

 

 

Perhaps alerted to their incoming arrival by Appa’s roars, Piandao was waiting for them outside of the Eastern Air Temple when they landed. “Prince Zuko,” Piandao greeted him warmly. “I am so pleased to see you in good health after all these years.”

Zuko leapt from Appa. “You too, Master Piandao.” He patted his sheath regretfully. “I fought with your swords until very recently. One of them was lost to me in the North Pole, and I passed the other on to a friend of mine who I took on as a student when one of Ba Sing Se’s generals graciously replaced them with a new set of dao blades.”

“Ah, well. If you had to lose them, at least you lost them both nobly.” Piandao smiled broadly. “I see you brought the Avatar with you!”

“Hello, Master Piandao.” Aang bowed. “I’m Aang. It’s nice to finally meet Zuko’s swordsmanship instructor.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Aang.” Piandao stepped back to face them both. “Incidentally, I have two friends inside, one of whom has been waiting a very long time to meet you, Aang. His name is Guru Pathik. We were hoping you would be here dropping Zuko off with your flying bison. He wishes to teach you how to control the Avatar State.”

Aang’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“I have an old friend who would like to see you too, Zuko. I’d tell you his name, but, well, I think it’d be better for you to reunite with him face-to-face.” He led them inside the temple.

Zuko froze as soon as he laid eyes on one of the two men inside. “…Uncle…?”

“Zuko,” Iroh replied warmly, tears shining in his eyes.

Zuko launched himself at Iroh, clutching his uncle more tightly than he’d ever held onto anything. Iroh’s arms came around his back to pull him even closer as he buried his face in Iroh’s shoulder. “How are you alive?” he mumbled hoarsely, squeezing his eyes shut as they moistened with tears. “I thought – I thought my father – I knew you didn’t kill yourself, but I thought _he_ \- “

“I was looking for you,” Iroh murmured. He felt Iroh smiling into his hair. “You’re not as easy to find as I expected.”

“I was the Blue Spirit,” Zuko explained, reeling.

Iroh barked out a laugh. “I see we have much to catch up on!” Zuko reluctantly released him, but Iroh didn’t let him get too far, keeping his hands on Zuko’s upper arms. He frowned, moving his left hand to gingerly caress his scar. He glanced past Zuko at Aang and smirked. “You know, I don’t think that’s what your father meant when he told you to find the Avatar.”

Laughter bubbled up in Zuko’s chest and forced its way out, causing him to pull away further and double over. “No, probably not,” he agreed. “So you’re, what, you’re neutral now? In the war? Or….”

“How much do you know about the Order of the White Lotus?” Iroh asked in response.

Zuko and Aang exchanged glances. “Nothing,” Zuko told him.

“When Lu Ten died,” Iroh began, “I traveled to the spirit world in search of him. Obviously I was unsuccessful, but while there, I was shown the error of my ways. That is the true reason for my retirement. When I ended the siege of Ba Sing Se, I found the Order of the White Lotus, an organization that transcends national boundaries. Now I spend my days assisting rebels throughout the Earth Kingdom. Zuko, Avatar Aang, you both have my full support in your mission to dethrone my brother.” Zuko released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

The fifth person in the room finally stepped forward. “Avatar Aang, I am Guru Pathik. I was a spiritual brother of your people and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso, and I can teach you to gain control of the Avatar State.”

“How?” Aang asked breathlessly, looking excited.

“You must gain balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world.” Guru Pathik waved Aang towards him and gestured deeper into the temple. “Come with me, and I will teach you everything you need to know and guide you towards balance.”

Aang glanced worriedly at Zuko. “Go,” Zuko encouraged him. Aang nodded and followed Guru Pathik away from them.

“So, you were the Blue Spirit?” Piandao inquired, obviously intrigued. “How did that happen?”

The three of them headed into the air temple with Appa padding after them and settled in a cooler part of the temple with a flowing spring nearby. They sat down as Zuko began, “When my mother was killed, I saw the man who killed her. At that point, I doubted I would ever find the Avatar, and I was lacking in purpose, so I made it my mission to avenge her. While hunting him, I found out he was hired by Admiral Zhao, and I realized it wasn’t a random murder and that my own life might be in danger. One of my contacts, a fellow firebender named Chit Sang, provided me with a mask so I could hide my identity. I did a lot of things I’m not proud of in that time to survive, but I’m trying to make up for it now. I chased the man all the way to Kyoshi Island. I nearly killed him. In the end, I took him back to Chin Village and turned him in to the authorities there in exchange for the bounty, and that’s how I became a bounty hunter.” Zuko leaned forward. “Your turn, Uncle.”

Iroh sighed. “My story starts at the same time. When I heard that your mother had died, I, too, realized the danger that you might be in, not just from the Fire Nation but from being all alone at such a young age. It took about half a year to make the arrangements, but with the White Lotus’s help, I was able to fake my suicide, allowing me to look for you without fear of endangering you or being assassinated myself much the same way your mother was. I must admit that I feared the worst when I couldn’t find you, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that if something had happened to you, the news would surely travel far enough to reach me no matter where I was. I began to focus on supporting the Earth Kingdom as quietly as I could while I searched for you. Until recently, I hadn’t ever expected to find you.” Iroh reached forward and gripped his shoulder, smiling as tears built up in his eyes again. “I was so relieved to hear not only that you were alive and well, but that you had found your way to the right side of the war since your banishment. Despite your father’s influence, you have grown up to be your own person, a very remarkable young man who I am proud to call my nephew.”

The two of them exchanged stories while Piandao listened in for quite a few hours. Eventually, Iroh said, “Nephew, if you intend to face your sister again, I wish to teach you more advanced firebending.”

Zuko stared at him hopefully. “Such as?”

“I’ve heard that Princess Azula has learned to bend lightning since I left the Fire Nation. As it so happens, I, too, possess this ability, and I am more than happy to pass it on to you.” The two of them stepped outside of the temple while Piandao trailed behind them, a silent observer. “Lightning is a pure form of firebending, without aggression. It is not fueled by rage or emotion the way other firebending is. Some call lightning the cold-blooded fire. It is precise and deadly. To perform the technique requires peace of mind.”

“Should we drink some tea first, then?”

Iroh stared at him like he’d never seen him before. He looked like he might start crying again. “That is an excellent suggestion, Nephew,” he rasped.

“I brought some supplies with me,” Zuko revealed, getting his bag from Appa’s saddle. “Would you like ginseng? I know it was your favorite – “

Iroh cut him off by hugging him much more enthusiastically than the first time. Zuko nearly dropped the bag, but was luckily able to set it down gently so the teapot and teacups within wouldn’t be damaged before he returned the hug with an equal amount of enthusiasm. “I am so lucky to have a nephew like you,” Iroh told him.

Zuko set up the tea, and as it steeped, he told Iroh and Piandao, “I run a teashop in Ba Sing Se with the rest of our friends.”

“Tell me more about your friends,” Iroh invited. “How did you meet them all? How did you end up helping the Avatar?”

“Well, when I found out he was only twelve, I thought maybe I should take him to my father after all and at least then I would have some power to change things. I had him on my boat, but then Zhao attacked Kyoshi Island and I realized the only way to stop him was to let Aang go. I followed him to Avatar Roku’s temple, where I met his friend Suki. Well, actually, I met Suki on Kyoshi Island when I was thirteen. I accidentally intruded on sacred ground, she panicked and threw a torch at me, and then I panicked and stabbed her in the foot. Needless to say, she wasn’t thrilled to see me, especially since I was trying to kidnap Aang again. Of course, then Zhao showed up again, so I had to let them go and work with them to escape. I met Sokka and Katara from the Southern Water Tribe after they joined Aang and Suki and I helped them escape from pirates.” Zuko cringed. “Katara is a waterbender, but Sokka is a nonbender and he tried to fight the pirates with a machete. That’s why I gave him my sword and taught him to use it. I infiltrated Zhao’s ship and followed him to the North Pole because that’s where Aang was. When I found out he was planning to kill the Moon Spirit, that seemed more important than anything else, and while I was there Zhao set my mask on fire everyone saw me fighting him without my mask on.”

“After that, Father sent Azula to take me as a prisoner. I became a wanted man. I ended up staying with this family in a village near Gaoling for three weeks until someone found out who I was and sent for Azula. I left so they could be safe, although I stopped by to say hello on my way here. Then I met Toph, a blind earthbender who sees through vibrations in the ground. She advised me to go to Ba Sing Se, where I could start over. I didn’t know it at the time, but she was traveling with Aang, Suki, Sokka, and Katara, and she’s the one who’s teaching Aang to earthbend. On my way to Ba Sing Se, I met Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot. They call themselves the Freedom Fighters. They used to stay in a forest outside Gaipan with a bunch of other Freedom Fighters, doing what they could to help the villagers there after the Fire Nation took over, but then they all nearly got caught. The three of them took the fall for everything and went on the run to distract the Fire Nation from their friends. The four of us traveled to Ba Sing Se together. Actually, we ran into Appa along the way.” Zuko patted Appa’s side affectionately, to which the bison rumbled contently in response. “He got separated from Aang and everyone else. I brought him to Ba Sing Se, and Aang met me there. Since then, all nine of us split our time between the teashop and helping Ba Sing Se plan an invasion of the Fire Nation – and then I got your letter.”

“An invasion?” Iroh echoed as Zuko poured the tea into three cups. “Truly?”

“In two months, there will be an eclipse, during which all firebenders lose their firebending,” Zuko explained, handing the tea out.

“Well, I’d be more than happy to join you on that day,” Piandao declared. “As a matter of fact, I will inform the rest of the White Lotus at once. I’m sure the Order will lend any assistance they can.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped. “That… That would be incredible!”

“We’ll have to get Bumi from New Ozai,” Piandao mused to Iroh. “He won’t miss a chance to help defeat the Fire Nation.” He rose to his feet and declared, “I’ll go get my messenger hawk and send letters to the other Grand Masters.” He walked off with his tea.

Iroh set his teacup down. “Are you ready to bend lightning?”

“Yes, Uncle.” Zuko set his cup down too.

They got up. Iroh said, “There is energy all around us. The energy is both yin and yang, positive energy and negative energy. Only a select few firebenders can separate these energies. This creates an imbalance. The energy wants to restore balance, and in the moment the positive and negative energy come crashing back together, you provide release and guidance, creating lightning.” Lightning crackled across his arms and fingers, and he pointed to the sky, letting it tear from him through the clouds.

Zuko watched in awe. “Okay. I’m ready to try it.”

“Remember, once you separate the energy, you do not command it,” Iroh cautioned him. “You are simply its humble guide. Now, breathe first.”

Zuko took a deep breath. He searched within himself for the negative and positive energies Iroh had spoken of, extricated them from each other, and mimicked Iroh’s movements. A huge explosion sent him flying backwards. The ground slammed into his back, and he reeled from the impact.

“Nephew! Are you alright?” Iroh rushed over and helped him back to his feet.

“I’m fine,” Zuko grunted. He took another breath. “I’m fine,” he repeated more calmly. “Let me try again.”

“Be careful,” Iroh warned. “I don’t think you separated them properly.”

Zuko got back into position. This time he visualized the spirit oasis from the North Pole, the Ocean Spirit and Moon Spirit circling each other in an eternal dance. _The energy is both yin and yang…, positive energy and negative energy…._ He pictured a line being drawn in the water between, spinning as they circled, the motion pushing and pulling the line in either direction. He reached out towards it in his mind and gently tugged them apart. Gradually, he felt the resistance from the positive and negative energies. As it built up, he prepared himself to guide it, and then he set the energies free, letting them snap back to each other – 

_Zuko positioned himself between Zhao and Katara and snarled, “Don’t_ touch _her – don’t touch any of them!”_

_“He killed the Moon Spirit!” Zuko shouted at Suki, incensed. “_ He killed my mother _! He stabbed her in the chest, he_ twisted _, and he left her there in that alley to_ bleed to death _!”_

_”Here you have it, soldiers,” Zhao sneered. “The banished prince, a proven traitor. The Fire Lord will be pleased with us, men.”_

Zuko came to on the ground once more, electricity still crackling on his skin as Iroh knelt beside him, looking alarmed. “You separated the energies, but once they reconnected, your emotions took over,” Iroh explained. “Are you okay?”

Zuko nearly answered with another, “I’m fine,” instinctively, but instead he took a second to test out his muscles, revealing just a bit of soreness, not enough to be debilitating. “Good enough,” he decided. “I can try again, at least one more time.”

“Are you sure? You shouldn’t push yourself too far!”

“I know my limits, Uncle,” Zuko reassured him. “At least once more.”

Iroh backed away, and Zuko took a few seconds to breathe deeply, focusing on the passage of air in and out of his lungs. He hated to think about some of his more painful memories, but perhaps it was time to examine them more closely. He recalled the memories that the lightning had brought to the forefront, recalled the events that followed: washing up on that driftwood, Azula’s attempt to capture him, putting his sword to his skin. Though it had been so many weeks since then, the scar remained on the inside of his left wrist, fading infinitesimally every day. He traced the line and closed his eyes, imagining the sensation of cloth pressed against his aching wrist, hearing Sela’s voice asking how he was feeling. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he still felt the dull surrealism of finding himself still breathing the next day and going through the motions of impersonating a living human being. He tapped into the keen sense of detachment and allowed it to flow through his veins once more, numbing him. A strange tranquility settling over him, he felt for the energies once more, separating them with more ease now, and familiarized himself with each side as they fought to reach each other. Finally, he let them slam into each other. The impact sent lightning through his body to his skin. He carried it in his arms as he pointed two fingers at the sky, and the energy shot from his fingertips and ripped through the clouds in its path. He bent over, laughing with relief. “I did it!” he cried joyfully. He looked up at Iroh, who was beaming at him. “Uncle, I did it!”

“So you did,” Iroh mused, warmth shining in his eyes.

“I… I think I better take a break now,” Zuko decided. He didn’t like the emptiness that pervaded his body now. It felt far too similar to the despair he’d spent weeks fighting off after the North Pole and had only recently defeated.

“Good idea,” Iroh approved. “In the meantime, I have another technique to show you. It is a firebending that even Azula doesn’t know, because I made it up myself.” They sat down next to the spring. Iroh picked up a stick and began drawing symbols in the sand as he spoke. “Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will, and the energy to drive and achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes are capable of adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything.” Zuko thought about Toph, Aang, and Katara, and thought that Iroh’s description was pretty accurate. “It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If you take it from only place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations will help you become whole.” He set down his stick. Between them was a drawing of each element, two lines drawn as a border between them while a circle captured them all. “The technique I’m about to teach you is one I learned by studying the waterbenders. Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy. A waterbender lets their defense become their offense, turning their opponents’ energy against them. I learned a way to do this with lightning.”

Zuko’s jaw dropped as they got to their feet once more. “You can teach me to redirect lightning?”

“If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it. You must create a pathway from your fingertips, up your arm to your shoulder, then down into your stomach. The stomach is the source of energy in your body. It is called the sea of chi – only in my case it is more like a vast ocean.” He patted his admittedly large stomach, and the two of them laughed lightly. “From the stomach, you direct it up again and out the other arm. The stomach detour is critical. You must not let the lightning pass through your heart, or the damage could be deadly. You may wish to try a physical motion to get a feel for the pathways’ flow, like this.” He folded himself so that his arms were pressed against each other as each hand pointed towards the sky. Then, he took his left hand and drew it across his body, moving his hand from his other hand up his arm and down to his stomach, then folded his left arm and stretched his left hand in the opposite direction of his right hand. Zuko followed his movements with his own hands. “Now, are you focusing your energy? Can you feel your own chi flowing in, down, up, and out?”

Zuko nodded as he repeated the movement several times. “Yes, I think so.” The two of them practiced for a few minutes. Eventually Zuko felt ready to return to the lightning, and he told his uncle as much. “Let me wash my face first, though,” he decided, wiping sweat from his forehead. He knelt beside the spring and scooped some water out with his hands.

_“Let me go! You’ll pay for this!”_

_“I highly doubt it. The only person paying for this will be the Avatar and my brother.”_

_“Even when they come, you’ll never catch them. You can’t take all of us!”_

_“With the Dai Li on my side, I certainly can.”_

“Zuko!”

Zuko jerked his head away from the water to meet Iroh’s concerned gaze. “The Ocean Spirit,” he gasped, “it saved my life in the North Pole, it healed my wounds and carried me away from the battle to safety, it gave me a vision once of Aang and now it’s just given me a vision of Suki and Jet – and Azula – Azula’s in Ba Sing Se!”

Iroh’s eyes narrowed. “Then you must return at once.”

Zuko accepted the proffered hand and pulled himself to his feet. “Uncle, will you come?”

Iroh shook his head. “I wish I could, but I cannot return to Ba Sing Se. Go save your friends. I will see you again soon, I am sure of it.”

Zuko hugged Iroh again, this time as a goodbye. Then he packed his bag up again and ran in the direction Aang and Guru Pathik had taken. He skidded to a halt at the entrance to a cave, within which they were meditating. “Aang,” he called. “Aang, we have to go.”

Aang turned to him, round-eyed. The guru regarded Aang with trepidation. “Why? What happened?”

“The Ocean Spirit sent me another vision. Azula’s in Ba Sing Se, and she has Suki and Jet in some sort of cave.”

Aang turned back to the guru. “I have to go.”

“No, Aang,” Guru Pathik insisted desperately. “By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won’t be able to go into the Avatar State at all!”

Aang glanced desperately back and forth between the guru and Zuko, who was utterly bemused. Finally he said, “My friends need me. I don’t have a choice.” He faced Zuko. “Let’s go save our friends.”


	13. The Wrong TIme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this good? Is this in-character? Is this even grammatically coherent? Who knows! Definitely not me.
> 
> The second half of this did not get proofread. Like, at all. This chapter has been the bane of my existence for... seven months now. I don't even care how good it is anymore. The ending is choppy and sudden, but I've already rewritten it at least five times and I don't think I'm ever going to like it, so it is what it is. I don't like any other part of this chapter either. I just want it out of my life already. I outlined this story in July, right? When I first outlined this mess, I looked at this chapter and I said to myself, "Yep. There it is. That's the one that's gonna kill me." Like seriously, guys, I have about five pages' worth of deleted scenes for this chapter alone. It's been a nightmare. This chapter did not come out anything like I initially wanted it to, and for the sake of my sanity, I've decided I'm okay with that.
> 
> To be fair, I did drop out of college and open up a restaurant within the past seven months. I won't pretend that I didn't spend a bit of time being lazy between the two, but for at least the past... almost four months now, I've pretty much had a consistent 60-hour work week, so the lateness of this chapter is at least not entirely my fault? I'll probably edit this note to be a little more apologetic tomorrow, but it's 7 A.M. right now and I need sleep. I might proofread this whole thing tomorrow or the day after, if I get the chance, but if I don't post this tonight I feel like I might not post it at all.
> 
> Okay. Regular chapter stuff now. The trigger warnings for this chapter are for a vague description of a past suicide attempt (not from Zuko's POV) and slightly derogatory comments about suicide that do not at all reflect my own personal beliefs. That last one is only two sentences and it's mild enough that you might not even notice. Chapter title comes from 9 Crimes by Damien Rice.

#### Interlude: Suki’s Story

#### Chapter 13: The Wrong Time

_“You’re leaving?”_

_Sheh and Hing whirled around from where they had been placing their things in a small boat. Hing walked up to her and knelt so that they were the same height. “You heard Shanar,” he said, referring to the village elder. “The Kyoshi Warriors who went to fight in the war, no one’s heard from them in far too long. Something’s happened to them.”_

_“So? Why don’t the Kyoshi Warriors here go look for them?”_

_“Shanar says we can’t spare anyone,” Sheh grumbled resentfully._

_“Shanar should go jump into the lake and let the unagi eat him.”_

_Hing put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. “Suki, my mother and sisters are out there.”_

_“I’m your sister!” Suki protested. She regretted it at once. It wasn’t fair at all to compare herself, a girl in a place that had scarcely been touched by the war in recent years, to three women who had been fighting Fire Nation soldiers for years and could be in serious danger. “…Or your daughter. Or something.” Hing was eleven years older than her, just between the right age to be her brother and the right age to be her father, so it was difficult to quantify their relationship. Indeed, ‘something’ was the best descriptor anyone had ever come up with. She shook her head, refusing to let the tears in her eyes fall. “Take me with you then,” she pleaded._

_“No way!” Sheh exclaimed. “Are you crazy? You’re ten years old! We can’t take you into a war!”_

_“A lot of people would say you shouldn’t go into a war either,” she countered, looking pointedly at his left arm, which ended just past his shoulder. “You’ve never let that stop you. Why should I?”_

_Hing hugged her, and she finally, finally let herself cry, pressing her face into his shoulder. “I have to go save my family,” he murmured into her ear. “But I have to keep my other family safe too. The safest place for you is right here. Please, Suki. It’s hard enough that Sheh won’t stay behind. I can’t risk losing both of you. I need you to stay here. I need you to understand.”_

_“…I understand,” she whispered hoarsely. “But promise me you’ll come back. Both of you.” She pulled away from Hing to look sternly at him and Sheh. “Promise me you’ll both come back.”_

_“Of course we will,” Sheh scoffed loftily. “We all know nothing out there is scarier or more dangerous than Aunt Kelen, and I’ve faced her down plenty of times.”_

_“I can’t argue with that logic,” Suki agreed, wiping her eyes and sniffling._

_“Suki, you’re incredible,” Hing promised. “You know that, right?”_

_“You tell me that at least every other day. I think you’ve already told me that once today.”_

_“Well, I just want to make sure,” Hing insisted. “You’re incredible, and you’re going to do amazing things someday when the time is right.”_

_Suki watched as her something and her something’s boyfriend set sail, and wondered how she would know when the time was right._

 

 

“It’s hard to say exactly where everything went wrong.”

 

 

_Three years later, she still didn’t know how she would know. She joined the Kyoshi Warriors as soon as she was old enough, one year ago, and everyone agreed that she was devastatingly talented at fighting. Some of the moves came so naturally to her that many of the adults, when they thought she wasn’t listening, speculated that she had already known them. It was hard to recall what her life had been like before she’d shown up on the beaches of Kyoshi Island seven years ago, but she thought maybe they were right. Once in a while, when she was blocking, she had the strangest sense of déjà vu._

_Hing had said she would do amazing things when the time was right. She still didn’t know how she would know when the time was right, but when it was, she would have to be ready. For years she had practiced as often as she could with whichever Kyoshi Warriors were willing to babysit. For the past year, she had practiced day and night in the training grounds when they were available and in her new bedroom in Aunt Kelen’s house when they weren’t. She memorized each move and committed all of them to her muscle memory to join whatever shards remained of her past. She had to be ready. She had to be ready._

_She wasn’t ready._

_The figure in Avatar Kyoshi’s shrine turned to face her as she approached, and his face was twisted and vivid blue, and she shrieked and threw her torch at him. She turned to run for help, but a sword wedged itself in her foot and pinned her there. Adrenaline dulling the pain, she pulled the sword from her foot and pointed it at the intruder, who she now realized was wearing a mask. She felt like an idiot. “Who are you?” she demanded. The intruder didn’t seem to notice her, which was impossible, since he’d **stabbed her**. He was staring at the torch, which had been extinguished upon contact with the stone floor. “What are you doing here?” she challenged, pressing forward with the sword outstretched. He ignored her still. Infuriated, she jabbed the sword at his neck, which finally caught his attention. “Hey! Answer me!”_

_“Why?” he retorted, oddly breathless._

_“ **Excuse me**?” She turned the sword in her hand and slammed the hilt into his shoulder. The impact turned him just enough for her to take his hands, put his wrists together, and pin him face-first into the wall. “You are on **my island** , in a shrine dedicated to **my island’s namesake** , and I am one of the **Kyoshi Warriors** who is dedicated to protecting this shrine! Now answer my questions, or I’ll – I’ll feed you to the unagi!”_

_Whatever trance he had been in after she’d caught him, he seemed to snap out of it, clearly registering her stutter as evidence of her nerves. “Will you, little girl?” he sneered at her. “What makes you think you can do that?” He slammed his head back into hers ( **stupid, stupid, I know better than to get that close** ) and ripped his arms from her hands ( **should have had a tighter grip, Ering always tells me to work on my grip** ) before a well-placed jab caused her grip on the sword to relax. He caught it as it fell and pointed it at her. “Now who’s feeding who to the unagi?”_

_“What’s going on here?” a thunderous voice demanded. Ani, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, rushed forward and easily disarmed the figure with a series of quick moves that Suki couldn’t even follow. Two more Kyoshi Warriors took each of the figure’s arms, pushed him to his knees, and held him down, while a fourth pulled Suki back and put herself protectively between Suki and the interrogation. Ani stood before the figure and snapped, “Who are you and why are you in Avatar Kyoshi’s shrine?”_

_“And why are you wearing a mask?” another Warrior asked._

_“That’s none of your business!” the intruder barked._

_“Like hell it isn’t!” Suki shouted at him. “You’re on our island, and you’re going to answer our questions!”_

_“Suki, hush,” Ani commanded, shooting a scowl over her shoulder. “If you don’t answer our questions, I’m going to take that mask off. I’m assuming you’re wearing it because you don’t want your face seen.”_

_“…I’m looking for a man named Shozing,” the intruder grumbled. “Heard of him?”_

_“Heard of him?” Ani stepped backwards, sounding alarmed. “The assassin? Yeah, I’ve heard of him. What do you want with him?”_

_“What do you think?” the intruder retorted. “I want the bounty on his head.”_

_“And you think he’s here, on Kyoshi?”_

_“I know he is. His target is a woman named Sariph. Supposedly, she lives here.”_

_“ **Sariph**?” Suki piped up, reeling. “No, she’s not here. She hasn’t been here in years. She went off to fight in the war before I was even born.”_

_The intruder eyed her warily. “I was told she was the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors.”_

_“She is. The ones who are fighting in the war. She’s their leader. I should know. I’m her granddaughter.”_

_The intruder huffed irritably. “Great. Then Shozing is probably leaving the island as we speak. If you hadn’t attacked me, I would have had him by now!”_

_“No, no, no. **You** attacked **me**! You stabbed my foot! Remember?”_

_“Yeah, after you threw a damn torch at my face! Who does that?”_

_“Enough!” Ani shouted. “If Shozing is still on the island, we need to stop him from getting off the island. You two, take this one to the prison for now.”_

_“What?” the intruder cried, outraged. “That’s ridiculous! On what grounds?”_

_“You intruded on sacred ground,” Ani reminded him. “You’ll need to face trial. You’ll be allowed to keep your mask, if you like, unless you’re found guilty. But you’re not going anywhere.”_

_“You’re making a mistake,” the intruder insisted, his voice taking on a note of hysteria. “You need me. I know how to find him!”_

_“You just said he was probably leaving the island as we speak,” Ani pointed out. “If you didn’t want to spend a few nights in prison, maybe you should have been more careful. And you…” She turned to Suki. “What are you even doing, wandering around in the middle of the night?”_

_Suki had an answer, but it wasn’t a good one, so she glared mutinously at Ani and kept her mouth shut._

_Ani sighed heavily. “Whatever. Go back to your great-aunt’s house and **stay there**. I’ll deal with you in the morning.”_

_Suki scowled, but she didn’t argue. Silently, she turned on her heel and walked away in the direction of Aunt Kelen’s house. **This is ridiculous,** she fumed. **I should be out there helping them catch Shozing, not going home. And that masked guy! The nerve of him! We don’t need his help. He should have just told the Kyoshi Warriors that Shozing was here and let us take care of it. But no, all people like him care about is money.**_

_As she reached her home, the adrenaline rush of fighting the masked intruder was wearing off. Her anger at the intruder and at Ani lessened, but that did nothing to dull her desire to help them catch Shozing. **What would Hing say?** she wondered. Hing had always been more level-headed than her and Sheh, often pulling them out of fights that their impulsivity and overconfidence got them into and smoothing things over. Then again, Hing had been more than capable of standing his ground, too, when it was worth it. He had always been very good at choosing his battles. Suki wished she’d listened to him more often when he was around. Now, her closest thing to an advisor was Aunt Kelen, who put much more stock in rules and authority than Suki could ever bring herself to. Was this one of the battles that she should choose? Was this time the right time?_

_She hesitated, one hand on the door to her home, ready to slide it open. The intruder had said something about knowing how to find Shozing. What if he’d been telling the truth? If Shozing escaped, he would surely go on to kill many more people. This intruder was a bounty hunter. He might only be interested in money, and she couldn’t know how far his morality would stretch to get it if he had any morality at all, but at least he did make his living by putting criminals being bars. If she had to choose between him on the streets and Shozing, well, it was an easy choice. Her mind made, she went inside, went to her bedroom, and climbed out the window. From there, she crept to the jail, waited for the two Kyoshi Warriors to finish locking the intruder up, and crept up to the bars between them. “Hey,” she hissed. The intruder’s head jerked up. “Hey, um, uh – what do I call you?”_

_He eyed her suspiciously. “Some people call me the Blue Spirit.”_

_She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the incredibly pretentious name. “Blue Spirit, do you really know how to find Shozing?”_

_His eyes widened. “Yes. I swear I do. You have my word.”_

_“Very well.” She took some chains from where they hung on a nearby hook and gestured for him to come closer. “Let me chain you up, and then I’ll let you out so you can bring me to him.”_

_“Are you joking?” he scoffed. “Why the hell would I do that?”_

_“Because it’s the right thing to do?”_

_She really hadn’t thought about how to convince him to help her, and that must have been obvious in her answer, for he outright laughed at her in response. “No way. If I do this, you’re going to let me go, and I get to keep the bounty.”_

_“No. No bounty. But… once he’s been handed over, fine. I’ll get Ani to consider it atonement for your crimes.”_

_“’Crimes,’” the Blue Spirit echoed incredulously. “Fine. Whatever. Just get me out of here.” He turned his back to the bars and held his hands out behind him. Suki reached through, sliding one end of the chains through the bars and passing it to her other hand, and chained his hands together behind his back. Then she took a pair of keys and unlocked the cell, freeing him. “Great. This way.”_

_“What, no thanks?” she retorted irritably, following him nonetheless._

_“Thanks? For what? Releasing me from the cell I was unfairly locked in? Because of **you**?”_

_“How is this my fault?”_

_“If you hadn’t caught me, none of this would have happened.”_

_“If you hadn’t been intruding on sacred ground in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have caught you!”_

_“Well, **I** was hunting a murderer. What’s your excuse?”_

_“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Suki huffed._

_He stopped and turned to face her. “How is that fair?” he challenged. “I, a stranger to your customs, get arrested for doing exactly the same thing you, a native, did. You owe me an explanation. What were you doing that was so much more important, more noble than bringing a criminal to justice?”_

_“Like you care. You just want the money.” He had a point, though…. “I was coming to pray to Avatar Kyoshi in the hopes that she could give me some advice.”_

_“Advice about what?”_

_Suki sighed. “I’m trying to become a better Kyoshi Warrior, but I’m just not sure how. I’m miles ahead of my peers in terms of fighting, but I’m reckless and careless. I’m not even close to being a real Kyoshi Warrior.”_

_“But how did you think Avatar Kyoshi was going to help you? I mean, didn’t she get reborn into the last Avatar anyway? Did her spirit truly pass on, or is it with Avatar Roku, or whatever Avatar is out there?”_

_“I don’t know!” Suki threw her hands in the air. “But I’m not asking Aunt Kelen for help, and I’m not asking any of the other Warriors anyway. They wouldn’t understand.”_

_“Understand **what**?”_

_“That it’s not enough to be good at just fighting! I have to be better, smarter – “_

_There was a loud **clink** as the chains hit the floor. “Careless indeed,” the Blue Spirit purred, and he ran for it._

_She dashed after him, but he scaled a nearby house and started leaping from rooftop to rooftop on his way back to the jail. She’d made a terrible mistake. She was never going to be a Kyoshi Warrior now. Furious with herself, she ran towards the jail on the ground. By the time she got there, he and his swords were long gone. She went back to the shrine. To her relief, one Warrior was still there investigating. “Help!” she cried. “The intruder escaped!”_

 

 

“Looking back, it feels like every time I had a decision to make, I made the wrong one.”

 

 

_Two years later, the Avatar showed up on Kyoshi Island, closely followed by that same intruder. Any mixed feelings she had towards the Blue Spirit rapidly became very, very distinctly negative. Whether he had been in the wrong back then or not, he was most certainly in the wrong now. No person could call themselves moral or even morally ambiguous while hunting down the world’s last hope for peace just for money. Even theft would be a better way to survive, and after all that time, even Kyoshi Island had heard of the legendary Blue Spirit, so Suki was well-aware that he could make a living perfectly easily without hunting Aang._

_“Have you ever heard of the Blue Spirit?”_

_“Yes…? Why?”_

_“Oh, he kidnapped me earlier. That’s why I was missing when that admiral got here.”_

_“He **kidnapped** you?”_

_“Yeah, but he let me go when he saw that ship.”_

_“Of course he did! He didn’t want them to catch him!”_

_“What? No, he said it was because they would burn down Kyoshi Village if they didn’t see me.”_

_“Aang, he was **lying**. He’s a **bounty hunter**.”_

_The Blue Spirit tied her to another bounty hunter, leapt out of a window that was possibly over a hundred feet in the air, and sank into the ocean. He didn’t resurface. Later, Suki would find a million ways to rationalize the decision she made next, but the truth was that someone who had just helped Aang meet with his past life was drowning, and she was the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. Suki dove back in and tugged him out. He wasn’t breathing. She took a deep breath, took his mask off, and forced oxygen into his mouth. He inhaled sharply and vomited water onto the ground, and that was when she took a good, long look at him._

_He was the kid from the marketplace who had distracted her while Aang wandered off. But more than that, she realized, he was a _kid_. He could easily be the same age as her. She had so many questions. She wanted to know where he’d learned to fight the way he did. She wanted to know why he was a bounty hunter. She wanted to know if he really did have some alternative, more relatable reason for kidnapping Aang like the reason Aang had accused him of having earlier, although if his family really had asked him to capture the Avatar, he must be Fire Nation._

_That night, she was still thinking about him, and her list of questions was growing. Why hadn’t he tied himself up to the rope instead and had her be the one to leap out and cut him free? Why had he let himself rise until he was higher than the other bounty hunter before letting them both start falling? Why hadn’t he told her he couldn’t swim before jumping? Had he thought so little of her that he would rather risk drowning than let her in on one of his weaknesses? That was so ridiculous! She was the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors! She was one of the good guys! Didn’t he realize that?_

_She hadn’t acted like one of the good guys, though. She’d thrown a torch at him. It hadn’t hit him, but if it had, who know what could have happened? And that burn on his face – spirits, he must have been freaked out when she threw that torch. That poor kid. What had even happened to him? If his family was Fire Nation like she suspected, how did he get that scar? Maybe a kid in some colonized Earth Kingdom village could have gotten a scar like that for insubordination or something, but that wasn’t the kind of scar someone might get in a fight. To have a scar that covered almost the entire left side of his face but hadn’t damaged his eye…. That scar had been given by someone older and smarter, and it had been given deliberately. But his family was Fire Nation. Something terrible occurred to Suki, and she banished that train of thought right away. She couldn’t let herself have too much sympathy for the Blue Spirit, even if it was well-deserved. He was the enemy. She couldn’t ever let herself forget that._

_Still, she had to wonder why he’d stuck around in Avatar Roku’s temple to help her and Aang get to Roku and escape. The Blue Spirit was nothing if not stubborn once he’d fixed his eye on a particular bounty, but risking discovery by Admiral Zhao in a sacred temple within Fire Nation territory seemed a bit far even for him. Why was he so determined to take Aang? Why was he so determined to keep Aang from Zhao even if it meant risking his own safety and freedom? The more she thought about it, the more she had to conclude he was either a Fire Nation boy trying way too hard to impress his family or a bounty hunter with an actually decent bone in his body._

_“How’d you three get out, anyway?”_

_“Blue tied June and me to a rope while Shyu shattered the glass in the window. We wrapped the rope around one of those columns in the temple and jumped out.”_

_“That must have been terrifying!”_

_“It was probably more terrifying for him, honestly. He wasn’t tied to anything when he jumped out of that window. He hung on my side of the rope until I was closer to the water, and then he cut me loose and waited until June was closer to the water, and then he just… let go. And he can’t even swim!”_

_“He can’t swim?!”_

_“No! I had to drag him back to the shore. Did I… Did I make the wrong decision?”_

_“No way! You had to save him, after that. Besides, between the two of us, I think we’ll be just fine.”_

_“Well, I sure hope you’re right.”_

_Less than a week later, Aang still needed to learn waterbending, the entire world was at stake, and there was a stolen waterbending scroll at the nearest pier. She slipped it up her sleeve and strode out of there with her head held high. It was one of the worst decisions she’d ever made, she realized hours later, tied up beside her new traveling companions Sokka and Katara while a group of pirates lie in wait for Aang’s reappearance. She had no idea where Aang would be in the middle of the night other than their campsite. She had a feeling it was the fault of the Blue Spirit and that other bounty hunter. She didn’t know what to think about that. If Aang didn’t come back, she doubted the pirates would just let her, Sokka, and Katara go with a warning. There would be some sort of reparations, possibly in the form of a taken hand or foot, but more than likely in the form of a life, or two, or three. Still, if Aang was with Blue and June, there was always a chance they would get into another situation where Blue decided to let Aang go rather than let Zhao capture him. At least this way he might get away clean. Maybe Suki could convince them to just let Sokka and Katara go. She was the one who stole the scroll. If anyone –_

_“What’s going on? Appa, what happened?” Suki’s spirits lifted and sank simultaneously. For better or worse, there was Aang, unsurprisingly with Blue in tow. “This isn’t good.”_

_“You think? Where the hell are your friends?”_

_“Right here,” the pirate captain announced smugly._

_Suki listened numbly as Blue and the pirates spoke, trying and failing to catch Blue’s gaze. **What is he thinking? What is his plan? Why won’t he look at me?** He did look at her, finally, as the pirate captain patted her head and threatened her with words she desperately wished to somehow unhear. He looked at her, and his next words deflated all her hopes for survival. “You act like I care what happens to them, anyway. I’m just here for the Avatar.” It wasn’t the words themselves that disappointed her. It was the way his voice shot up an octave, laced with urgency and despair. For once, his smoothness had completely abandoned him. He was terrified – on their behalves, oddly enough – and it showed, and it meant that he didn’t have a plan at all. He was just stalling._

_Well. It looked like it was up to Suki this time. **These knots are too tight. I can’t break free. I might be able to fight them off without being untied if I had help, but I doubt Katara and Sokka can fight. I’ve seen earthbenders and firebenders use their feet in a fight though. Katara might be untrained, but she is a waterbender, and she’s been practicing with that scroll all day. She must have learned something from it.** Suki caught Katara’s gaze, nodded to the water, and kicked the ground to emphasize her foot. Katara tilted her head. Scowling, Suki repeated the gestures more emphatically. Eyes widening, Katara looked thoughtfully at the water and then her own foot. She kicked. She kicked again. She kicked a third time, and a stream of water shot from the river beside them and captured one of the pirates, yanking him into its depths._

_Soon, Suki, Sokka, Katara, and Aang were safe on Appa’s back, along with their supplies and Blue with his hands and feet bound together. She felt bad about that, but it was a necessary precaution. Bafflingly good person or not, he was still the enemy. He was an enemy that deserved an apology, though, she decided. They landed just beyond Omashu. A few feet from Appa, she untied him, bowed, and finally apologized for her actions in Avatar Kyoshi’s shrine two years ago. He was nice about it, if a bit awkward. He even apologized in turn for his own actions back then. He was so confusing, and the more she spoke to him, the more confused she got._

_That night (or, rather, that morning), as she tried to sleep amidst Sokka’s obnoxiously loud snoring, she wondered about him again. He seemed to like her and Aang, and Katara too. She could hardly spite him for disliking Sokka, especially when by all appearances he disliked Sokka on principle for his actions towards Aang. It was perhaps a bit hypocritical of him to judge Sokka for kicking Aang out of his tribe when Blue himself was persistently attempting to imprison Aang and deliver him to the Fire Lord, but there it was. She wondered for the first time if she could befriend him and bring him over to her side. She was more the type to stab first and ask questions later, but she found herself strangely reluctant now to consider him her enemy. Everything would be easier if she just knew **why** he was trying to kidnap Aang._

_“Hey, Suki.”_

_“Yeah, Aang?”_

_“Where do you think Blue learned to fight like that?”_

_“…I… don’t know…?”_

_“I wish I could fight like that. Maybe next time he kidnaps me, I’ll ask him to teach me.”_

_“…To be honest, I’m kind of hoping he **doesn’t** kidnap you again.”_

_“He’s not so bad, though.”_

_“I guess not. But you shouldn’t get too comfortable with him, either. He’s still trying to bring you to the Fire Lord. You understand that, right?”_

_“He’s not trying too hard. He and the other bounty hunter had me today, but when we heard Katara scream, he let me go. He actually fought off the other one so we could escape.”_

_“Aang….”_

_“I’m just saying, he can’t be such a bad guy if he fought his friend to save us, right?”_

_“Sure, but don’t get attached. He’s still not on our side.”_

_Suki ate her own words a few days later. Katara and Sokka lie sick and hallucinating in a cave, and Blue appeared before her informing her that Aang was being held captive by Zhao. She couldn’t let Zhao leave with Aang, but she couldn’t leave Sokka and Katara, either. Blue promised to bring Aang back to her. The Blue Spirit, the infamous bounty hunter who had stopped at nothing to hunt her and Aang down and had vowed to kidnap Aang and deliver him to the Fire Nation, promised to bring Aang back to her just this once, and spirits help her, she believed him. She had no choice but to believe him, given the circumstances. Even if she’d had a choice, part of her thought that maybe she would have believed him anyway._

_She sent him off after Aang, sticking a frozen frog in each sick teen’s mouth at Blue’s recommendation, still reeling from the fact that he had actually spoken of his mother even if it was just to tell her that she’d had the same sickness three years ago. Her regret built up steadily as hours passed with no sight of Aang or Blue. She’d really, really thought he was a decent person. She’d thought that maybe he had some honor to him, and he’d promised to bring Aang back this time, so where was he?_

_Katara recovered, and Sokka recovered enough that they could at least trust him to stay behind without supervision, so Suki and Katara rode Appa all the way to the stronghold Blue had spoken of, hoping beyond hope that Blue hadn’t already stolen away with their friend. Quite a scene awaited them; Blue and Aang were both riding the shirshu, sitting in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by soldiers. Aang’s gaze hooked on them. “ **Appa**!”_

_“ **Appa**?” Blue echoed._

_Perking up, Aang threw Blue off of the shirshu and at Suki as they swooped down to snatch them. Suki caught Blue by the front of his tunic while Katara latched onto Aang as he jumped towards them. The four of them peeled off, even Blue seeming almost giddy with relief. They reached the cave, and Suki made her way inside with the boomerang Blue had thoughtfully retrieved. She was all too aware of Blue and Aang hanging back to talk about something privately as Katara followed her inside, but they were right there. Surely Blue wouldn’t do anything to Aang with Appa there and Suki just inside the cave._

_Aang walked inside soon enough, an uncharacteristically pensive look on his face as he approached her. “Hey Suki, do we have enough for one more?”_

_Suki quirked an eyebrow at Aang, then at Blue, who hovered with his back to them all too conspicuously right outside the cave. “I guess so.”_

_“Are we feeding the bounty hunter now?” Sokka complained._

_“Hush,” Katara scolded. “He just saved Aang from that Fire Nation admiral, I think you can manage some hospitality.”_

_“He only saved Aang so he could kidnap him himself!”_

_“Do you see him attacking any of us right this second? No.”_

_“Blue’s done more for Aang than you have,” Suki pointed out mildly, smothering a smirk before it could reach her face._

_Predictably, Sokka shot to his feet at that. “What? He **tried to kidnap him**!”_

_“He also saved him three times now – hey, Blue, don’t be a stranger! Come inside! It’s freezing out there.”_

_Though he was obviously uncomfortable at first, Blue settled down surprisingly quickly. He fit so well with the four of them. Part of Suki desperately wanted to ask about his family and his reasons for kidnapping Aang, but the more sensible parts of her decided to sacrifice her curiosity for the sake of keeping dinner civil. Still, the more time she spent with Blue, the more she felt like he should rightfully be on their side, helping them, and the more she wondered what was stopping him. Because he was obviously lonely, and he obviously liked them, and he was obviously a decent person despite everything, so **why couldn’t he just stop chasing Aang and start helping them?**_

_It didn’t matter. Suki had assumed the worst of him once, and she had a sinking feeling that that moment so long ago had been the catalyst for everything that had led him here. The best way to make reparations now was to give him the benefit of the doubt in all the ways that didn’t endanger Aang. She wouldn’t give up on Blue’s potential to be a good guy. Even if she couldn’t convince him to become one, she could give him every opportunity in the world to choose to do so._

 

 

“And even when I did everything I could, I can’t help but feel like I should have done more. Do you know what I mean?”

“…I do.”

 

 

_Suki watched as the ocean lapped gently at the edge of the surface she stood upon._

_“Suki.”_

_Less than a week earlier, that same, gentle ocean had killed countless Fire Nation soldiers, wielding Aang like a weapon in defense of the North Pole._

_“Suki?”_

_She wanted to be grateful. She really, truly did. And yet…_

_“Suki, what is it?”_

_“Nothing,” she said numbly. “It’s nothing, Aang.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Why don’t we split up? You and Katara look over there, and Sokka and I will look over here.”_

_Aang met her gaze, his childish features twisted grotesquely by the same unspoken fear that sank its fangs deeper and deeper into Suki too with every passing hour. “…Okay,” he agreed in a small voice. He and Katara turned and headed in the direction she’d indicated, Katara casting a concerned, knowing frown at her as she left._

_Sokka made his way forward to stand beside her. “What is it?” he asked quietly._

_Suki gestured wordlessly to the opposite side of the canal, where a single dao blade lay on the ground._

_“Oh, geez,” Sokka breathed. He glanced nervously at her. “What does that mean? That’s not – that doesn’t really mean – “ He paused, took a deep breath, and continued more calmly, “That doesn’t mean he’s not – y’know. I mean, with everything going, he definitely could have just dropped it, right?”_

_She almost wanted to laugh. “No. He couldn’t have. Blue would never have just dropped half of his sword and left it there, not under any circumstances.” Suki shook her head. “He went after **Zhao** , Sokka. Zhao.” At that, she did laugh, albeit briefly and borderline hysterically. “I mean, are you really surprised?” Sokka flinched, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care. Blue was dead. He was dead. That poor, lonely, stupid kid with the dead mother and the dead uncle and the unexplainable vendetta was gone now. “Damn him,” she bit out. It took her a second to realize she’d spoken out loud, but once she’d started, the words came tumbling out. “Damn him! Why couldn’t he just **stay put**? Why did he have to go after Zhao? Why was he even here in the first place?”_

_“Suki – “_

_“It’s his own fault! He should never have been chasing us to begin with! He could have done anything with his life! He knew how to fight, he knew how to sail, he knew how to track – he was so smart, Sokka! He could have been so much more than this. And he had every opportunity to change his mind. When he brought Aang back to us and had dinner with us after Zhao captured them, when he saved us after the pirates captured us, when he helped Aang and I escape Avatar Roku’s temple – he could have worked with us instead of against us! And then he would be alive!”_

_“He is alive,” Sokka corrected evenly. Suki’s jaw dropped as he looked her in the eye, eyebrows narrowed decisively. “In a fight between Blue and Zhao, I’m betting my money on Blue. I don’t care if one of his stupid swords is here. I don’t care if you’ve never seen him without it. I won’t believe he’s dead until I see it with my own eyes.” Suki watched as Sokka swam across the canal, retrieved the dao blade, and returned with it. “It’s bad enough that Yue’s dead,” Sokka uttered, his voice catching on the last word. Suki’s heart leapt into her throat. It was the first time he’d acknowledged it since it happened. “I won’t let Blue be dead too.”_

_**It’s not like you have a choice,** she thought bitterly, perhaps unfairly. She didn’t correct him again, though. If it made him feel better to believe Blue was alive somewhere with half of a sword, then she would let him. At least Sokka’s optimism would probably make Aang feel better, too. “Okay. I’ll ask someone to make a sheathe for it so no one gets cut on it. We’ll keep it, and when we see him again, we’ll give it back.”_

_Sokka smiled warmly at her. “Sounds good.” He patted his satchel fondly. “I can give his knife back to him then, too.”_

_They were still at the North Pole, on the verge of leaving, when Aang burst into their lodgings with a letter. **Thank you,** was all that it said. Try as she might, Suki could think of just one person who would send them such an odd, ominous letter. Aang, Sokka, and Katara took it as proof that Blue was out there somewhere. Suki didn’t. That letter sounded an awful lot like a goodbye._

 

 

“So you understand, then, that when I say I wish… I wish he’d never met you… it’s not about _you_ at all. Because if he'd been with us, this would have gone much differently.”

“…Yeah. I get it. I wish he'd never met us too.”

 

 

_She didn’t find out why Blue would send a goodbye letter to them for a few weeks. She, Aang, Sokka, Katara, and their newest addition Toph were at the Misty Palms Oasis. Aang was being enthusiastically interrogated by an Earth Kingdom professor named Zei when Toph pulled her to the side and said, “Hey, Suki, I overheard someone saying something about wanted posters – are there posters up here?”_

_Suki looked around. “Yeah, there are. Why?”_

_“This is gonna sound kinda weird, but could you do me a favor and look for someone named Zuko? He’s a friend of mine.”_

_“…Sure.” Suki led Toph to the wall with the posters and scanned them. “Hey, what do you know? There he – “_

_“Suki?” Toph prompted. “…Suki…?”_

_“I don’t believe this.” Suki stared incredulously at the poster. “I don’t **believe this** \- “ She knew that face. Spirits, she definitely knew that face. She would never forget that face. She’d **shared a meal** with that face – “We had dinner with the Fire Lord’s son?!”_

_“Really?” Toph asked interestedly as Sokka and Katara dropped what they were doing to stare at her in bewilderment. “I didn’t know you guys met.”_

_Suki gestured violently to Zuko’s poster. “That’s him! That’s Blue! That’s the Blue Spirit!”_

_“How can you be so sure?” Sokka challenged, striding over to look at it himself. “You said you only saw his face once - ”_

_“Sokka, **half his face was burned off**.”_

_“More than one person could have half of their face burned off,” Sokka disagreed, his eyes skimming the description. “Look, it says here that he ‘refused to capture the Avatar,’ right? But Blue never **refused** to capture Aang, he was just bad at it and kept letting him go instead.”_

_“You don’t think that constitutes refusal in the eyes of the Fire Nation?” Katara countered mildly, joining them. “I mean, can you imagine Blue walking up to the Fire Lord and going, ‘Hey, I had the Avatar, but then we were attacked by pirates, so I let him go?’ Somehow I doubt that would go over well.”_

_“There’s no way Blue was Fire Nation,” Sokka stated adamantly, shaking his head. “You guys are crazy. Right, Aang? Back me up here.”_

_Aang hesitated. “Yeah, uh…, sorry, Sokka, but they’re right. That was Blue’s name. Zuko.”_

_“He gave you a name?” Suki questioned, intrigued._

_“…Actually, he told me exactly who he was.”_

_“ **Aang** ,” Sokka cried exasperatedly. “Aang, you can’t let us eat dinner with Fire Nation people without even telling us who they are!”_

_“Wait, are you guys talking about that bounty hunter?” Toph interjected. “Is Zuko the bounty hunter you were telling me about? That guy who was half-heartedly trying to catch Aang but kept saving you all instead?”_

_“I guess so,” Sokka confirmed grumpily. His jaw dropped. “Ugh!” He yanked Blue’s knife out of his bag. “This belongs to the **Dragon of the West**!”_

_“No, it belongs to Blue.” Katara raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed._

_“Well, yeah, but it was bought by the Dragon of the West! The Dragon of the West did, at one point, possess this knife!”_

_Toph snorted. “What, are you afraid of Fire Nation cooties?” Sokka made a disgusted noise as she continued. “I mean, it’s kinda too late for that anyway. Like Suki said, you already shared a meal with the Fire Lord’s son.”_

_Sokka looked down at the knife in his hand, then back up at the poster, his nose wrinkled and brow furrowed. By the time his gaze landed back on the knife, his expression had softened. “…I am **so confused**.”_

_“Zuko was banished,” Aang explained. “Disowned and banished.”_

_“So when he was trying to catch you…”_

_Aang nodded emphatically, affirming Suki’s unspoken conclusion. “He didn’t care about the money. He just wanted to go home and take down the Fire Lord from the inside.”_

_“But if he’s wanted now….” Suki frowned at the wanted poster. “He must have gotten caught. That’s why we got that letter. It was a goodbye after all.”_

_“But didn’t you get that letter before you met me?” Toph pointed out._

_“…Yes?”_

_“I met him after you met me.”_

_The connection Toph was urging her to make was so jarringly cheerful that it took Suki a few moments to believe what she was hearing. “So… he’s… alive?”_

_“Last I checked, he was perfectly okay,” Toph chirped._

_“He’s okay!” Aang echoed jubilantly. He lunged for Toph’s shoulders. “How long ago was that? How was he doing? Where was he going?” He scowled suddenly. “ **Why didn’t he contact us**?!”_

_“Um, he considered his presence a huge threat to literally anyone’s safety?” Toph answered, baffled. “And he was kind of right? I mean, at least half of the world thinks you’re great, Twinkle Toes. But the same half of the world that likes you hates Zuko for being Fire Nation, and the other half hates him for being on your side. So no matter where he goes, everyone’s going to hate him.”_

_Suki felt the good mood slowly dissipate as Toph laid out all the facts. “But we could help him,” Katara said in an injured voice. “Didn’t he trust us?”_

_“Not everything’s about you, Sugar Queen,” Toph sneered. Katara’s face turned stormy as Toph continued, and Suki braced herself to break up a fight. “He was **trying** to keep you all **safe**.”_

_“How was he planning to keep **himself** safe?” Katara demanded._

_Before Suki could jump in to calm everyone down, Toph retorted, “To be honest, he wasn’t really. Until I suggested he go to Ba Sing Se.”_

_“Ba Sing Se?” Sokka looked up from the dagger, a fierce determination growing in his eyes. “So he might be there right now?”_

_“I mean, I doubt it, but he was definitely on his way there when we parted ways.”_

_“So that’s where we can find him.” He grinned. “We have to go to Ba Sing Se!”_

_“Didn’t you hear me? I said I doubt he’s there – “_

_“But he will be,” Sokka pressed. “Hey, wait, I’ve got a better idea – where did you last see him, Toph?”_

_“Somewhere around Tu Zin. You know, when we had our first fight with Azula while Appa was shedding like a maniac.”_

_Sokka pulled his map out of his satchel and spread it out against the wall, covering the wanted posters up there. “Okay, so it looks like the only way to get to Ba Sing Se is through the Serpent’s Pass, which is pretty much a straight shot from Tu Zin across the Si Wong Desert. So if we just fly across the desert and stay low to the ground….” He turned back to face the group, grimacing. “I know it’s a long shot, but we could at least try.”_

_“Professor Zei is looking for some fabled library that’s supposed to be somewhere in the desert,” Katara piped up. “Aang and I were talking about helping him look for it on Appa, so it’d kind of be like killing two arctic hens with one stone.”_

_“I doubt we’ll find him, but it’s not like we’ve got anything better to do,” Toph opined._

_Suki didn’t bother asking Aang’s opinion. She already knew what he wanted to do. “Okay. I guess we’re going to the Si Wong Desert then!”_

 

 

“I knew you’d get it. I love our friends, but at the end of the day, they’re just a bunch of stupid kids who had no idea what they were getting into. You and I, we’re the ones who’ve had to lead them, guide them, and protect them. And even though we don’t always see eye to eye, there’s no one I’d trust more to do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”

 

 

_Weeks later, in Ba Sing Se, Suki wandered the streets in search of something very, very important. She had never heard of abnormal psychology on Kyoshi Island, but during her time in Omashu, she’d educated herself on a variety of personality disorders and mental disabilities while she’d had the chance, seeking to improve her awareness to no particular end. Now she sought treatment for something very specific, and she had to get it done before Aang, Sokka, Katara, and most importantly, Zuko returned from their trip._

_Finally, she found the clinic she’d been looking for. It was much nicer than the one in Omashu. Bracing herself, she stepped inside._

_“…good thing we took care of it **before** our unexpected guests arrived,” the receptionist remarked to another woman. “He’s been pretty much impossible to catch by himself since they joined him.”_

_Suki didn’t want to attract too much attention to herself, but the conversation sounded too shady to be left alone. “Impossible to catch who by themselves?”_

_Both women looked up at her in alarm. “Oh, um, a – a friend of mine,” the first stuttered._

_Now Suki was even more suspicious. “A… friend of yours?”_

_“Yes – um – “ The receptionist hesitated, looking at her friend, then looked back nervously. “…You can’t tell anyone.”_

_“Okay…,” Suki agreed slowly._

_The friend eyed the other woman accusingly, but was ignored. “So the thing is, I have this friend who I think is being abused by his dad. His dad was away for business for a while, and while he was gone I finally got my friend to start seeing a therapist. But his dad doesn’t know that I think my friend is being abused.”_

_“Oh!” Suki started. That was much less nefarious than it had initially sounded. “So you’re a client? I thought you were the receptionist – “_

_“I’m actually a volunteer,” she replied. “But I’ve gone through a lot of training here, so if you need help, I am most certainly qualified!”_

_“I do.”_

_Suki glanced uncertainly at the volunteer’s friend. The volunteer followed her gaze. “Soshi, could you excuse us please? And tell Eni we have a visitor?”_

_“…Sure.” Soshi rose, nodded to Suki, and exited the clinic._

_“I’m Hila,” the volunteer said._

_“I’m S- Sariph,” Suki answered, remembering at the last second that she didn’t want to be identified as an associate of the Avatar and, by extension, Zuko. The clinic promised anonymity, but Suki wasn’t sure how much she trusted that._

_“So, Sariph, what do you need help with?”_

_“Well, actually, it’s a similar situation to what you described,” Suki confessed. “I have a friend who I think was abused, and I don’t know how long we’re going to be here in Ba Sing Se, but I’d like to try and get him some kind of therapy before we leave. I just don’t know how to convince him.”_

_“Therapy for what?” Hila tilted her head to the side, and something about the innocent, detached curiosity in her gaze was immediately familiar to Suki. She just couldn’t place it. If only she weren’t concealing her identity, she might have asked if they’d met somewhere before. “Was he abused?” Hila pressed when Suki had been silent too long._

_“Maybe? Probably? I mean, it’s kind of complicated. It’s not just the abuse though. He’s just been through a lot, in general. So I think he has…” Suki wracked her brain… “P… PDST? It’s some kind of trauma thing.”_

_“PTSD,” Hila supplied. “Post-traumatic stress disorder?”_

_“Yes! That’s it. He has a lot of the symptoms. I mean, at least, according to a pamphlet I read in Omashu. Nightmares, hypervigilance, social isolation – the biggest one is self-destructive behavior. It’s a huge problem with him. I don’t feel like letting him out of my sight most of the time for fear of what he’ll do next.”_

_Hila nodded as she spoke, and when she finished, Hila said, “That sounds like PTSD to me. Of course, I would have to meet him to diagnose him – although I’m not actually qualified to diagnose him myself, technically. But you said this is a result of child abuse, right?”_

_“I guess, among other things. Why?”_

_“Well, child abuse is more commonly associated with Complex PTSD.”_

_“Is that… Is that very different?”_

_“Not too different. Other symptoms that aren’t too common in typical PTSD are – let’s see – “ She plucked a pamphlet from the desk. “Explosive anger, preoccupation with revenge, a sense of being completely different from other human beings – “_

_“Yeah, that’s, uh, that’s kind of his whole personality. That’s weirdly specific.”_

_Suki wanted to ask if Hila had experience with this, but felt it would be insensitive. Thankfully, Hila offered this information on her own. “I have a friend who was abused. Well, two, but one of them I haven’t spoken to in years. They both had those symptoms as well.”_

_Before Suki could even consider what a coincidence that was, Hali’s eyes widened sharply, and suddenly there were hands made of rock on her mouth and her arms and –_

_\- and then nothing._

 

 

“No. You are _absolutely not_ asking me to do what I think you’re asking me to do! You can’t be serious!”

“Wait – just let me explain – “

“There’s no way I can do that, Suki!”

“Jet, _please_!”

 

 

_”…Wake up. Come on, come on, wake **up** …. Suki, **please**!”_

_Suki stirred, drowsily taking in her surroundings. “What… Jet? Where are we?”_

_Jet slumped backwards against the cave wall. His hands were clearly bound, but in the darkness, she couldn’t see what by. “No clue.”_

_“I think someone mentioned Lake Laogai?” Smellerbee suggested, and Suki noticed her and Longshot for the first time. “Joo Dee said it was some kind of vacation spot, but knowing how this place was run before we got here, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was more to it.”_

_Suki looked around. “Where’s Toph?”_

_“She escaped,” Smellerbee stated. “Hard to contain an earthbender with earthbending, right? And they could hardly have stuffed her in some metal prison, seeing as she can bend metal now. I don’t know what they were planning on doing with her, but either way, I bet she’s out there right now trying to find us.”_

_A woman strode into the cell, surrounded by Dai Li agents. It was Azula. “Well, well, well,” she purred, her voice as sharp and electric as her bending. “If it isn’t the… ‘Freedom Fighters,’ and company.” She smirked at Suki. “I could hardly believe it when Mai told me you’d walked right up to her and Ty Lee without recognizing either of them. I suppose we did an excellent job on our Earth Kingdom disguises.”_

_Suki recoiled, thinking over her conversation with ‘Hila.’ She’d given all that information about Zuko directly to the enemy. She may not have identified him by name, but if Ty Lee had known who she was the whole time, it couldn’t have been a difficult connection to make._

_“What were you even doing in that clinic, anyway?” Azula waved her hand dismissively. “Never mind. I have better things to do than listen to your prattling. Ty Lee!”_

_…Wait a second. Ty Lee hadn’t relayed their conversation to Azula yet?_

_Ty Lee strode into the room from around the corner, looking anywhere but at Suki. “Yes, Azula?”_

_“Will you keep an eye on these – “ Azula was interrupted by the distant sound of metal… being bent. Caught off-guard, Azula paused in her instructions to step towards the exit._

_“Let me go!” Suki blurted out. “You’ll pay for this!”_

_Azula glanced back at her, vaguely amused. “I highly doubt it. The only people paying for this will be the Avatar and my brother.”_

_“Even when they come, you’ll never catch them,” Jet taunted. “You can’t take all of us!”_

_“With the Dai Li on my side, I certainly can.”_

_“Not if – “_

_“Dai Li, silence the prisoners.”_

_In two swift motions, both Suki’s and Jet’s mouths were covered by the Dai Li’s detached rock hands. She could only hope they’d given Toph enough time to find a hiding place._

_“That’s better. Ty Lee, keep an eye on them. I will be back shortly.” Azula left the cell, the Dai Li on her tail. Only three of them remained with Ty Lee._

_Finally, Ty Lee locked eyes with Suki, looking guiltier than Suki would have believed anyone from the Fire Nation could had she not known Zuko. After a few moments, Ty Lee bit out, “Dai Li, remove the muffle.”_

_“Pardon me?” one of them inquired nervously._

_Ty Lee straightened her back. “Remove the muffle,” she repeated, gesturing at Suki. “Just from that one.”_

_The Dai Li exchanged glances._

_“Did I stutter?” Ty Lee barked._

_“No, ma’am,” said the one who had spoken the first time, and he summoned the muffle from Suki’s mouth._

_“Thank you. Now stand watch outside. I don’t need you hovering over me like some child who needs protecting. I can take care of myself.”_

_The Dai Li reluctantly left the cell._

_“…Let me guess,” Suki drawled after a few moments of tense silence. “You keep my secrets, I keep yours?”_

_“That sounds like a perfectly fair trade to me,” Ty Lee commented._

_“Not to me. Not when I have much, much less to lose.” Suki leaned forward. “What would your princess think of you gossiping about her, with enemies no less?”_

_Ty Lee’s face went a shade paler. “I wasn’t gossiping.”_

_“You weren’t?”_

_“I was – exchanging information.”_

_“Is that so? You certainly seemed to know everything I told you about Zuko before I said a word.” Suki tilted her head thoughtfully. “So you two were friends, huh? Before he was banished? And you just… let him wander the world alone? What kind of a friend does that make you?”_

_“I was Azula’s friend first,” Ty Lee defended herself._

_“ **Right**. And she’s doing **swimmingly** , as you intimated to me earlier.”_

_“There’s nothing I can – “ Ty Lee shouted, then cut herself off sharply, looking over her shoulder at the shadows of the Dai Li. When they failed to shift, she turned back to Suki and hissed, “What should I have done about that, huh? Should I have reported the **Fire Lord** for **child abuse**? **Who was going to investigate that**?!” Her voice cracked. She stepped backwards. “This is the way it has to be. This is what’s best for everyone. Zuko is going home now.”_

_“Home to what?” Suki challenged. Out of the corner of her eye, Longshot flinched, violently. Suki ignored him._

_“Zuko is smart. When he gets home, he’ll realize that he has to give in. He’ll tell Azula what she wants to know. Or maybe he’ll even make something up. I don’t care. I don’t care about the Avatar or the war or anything. I just want my friends to be happy.”_

_Where Suki had once thought that same desire might be the key to getting through to Ty Lee, Suki now wondered if there truly was any way to get through to someone so very self-deluded. “Ty Lee, your friends can’t both be happy,” Suki told her gently. “Maybe they could have been, at one point, but that’s no longer an option.”_

_“It is,” Ty Lee insisted. “It… It has to be.”_

_They looked at each other in silence for several heartbeats, then Longshot said softly, “You’re severely overestimating Zuko’s level of self-preservation.”_

_Ty Lee scowled at him. “I realize he’s self-destructive – “_

_“I don’t think you do,” Longshot interrupted calmly. “He is **actively** self-destructive. He will actually kill himself before endangering any of us. That isn’t just my belief. It’s fact.”_

_“How can you be so sure?”_

_“Because he’s made that choice before.”_

_“Sacrificing himself – “_

_“I don’t mean sacrificing himself.” Longshot’s voice gained an edge. “I mean actually **killing himself**. I mean that he actually **tried to kill himself**.”_

_Every single head in the cell turned sharply towards Longshot, including Suki’s. Ty Lee shook her head, looking a little lost. “You’re wrong.”_

_“I’m not,” Longshot disagreed. “He used to wear bandages around his left wrist under his sleeves. I asked about them once and he claimed they were a gift from a friend. I believed him then, but once he stopped wearing them, I took note of the long scar left behind across his wrist. I’ve seen it before. There’s only one way to get it.”_

_Suki felt sick. He had to be wrong. Maybe he was bluffing to psych Ty Lee out. Zuko would never have done that. Zuko wasn’t a quitter._

_“…It doesn’t matter,” Ty Lee responded quietly. “This is how it has to be.”_

_“Even if it kills one of your friends?” Suki demanded._

_“If he’s right,” Ty Lee said, voice shaking, without meeting anyone’s gaze, “if it comes to that, if I have to choose, I choose Azula. So it doesn’t matter.”_

_“Really? It doesn’t matter at all who’s right and who’s wrong?”_

_“I don’t care about right or wrong,” Ty Lee dismissed._

_“I don’t believe that’s true,” Suki countered. “I don’t believe that for a second. You care. I know you do.”_

_Ty Lee’s shoulders slumped. “…Maybe. But not enough.” She shot upright suddenly. “Dai Li!” The Dai Li reentered the cell. “Muffle the prisoners again. This time, all of them.”_

_Jet jerked in alarm. “Wait!” Smellerbee yelled urgently._

_“I don’t have time for this,” Ty Lee snapped, but she held a hand up regardless, pausing the Dai Li’s actions._

_“You don’t have to muffle Longshot,” Smellerbee insisted. “Please. He won’t talk anymore. You don’t have to muffle him.”_

_Ty Lee looked towards Longshot for confirmation, but he had fallen silent once more, paler than Suki had ever seen him. She sighed. “Muffle the other two, then.” The Dai Li did as requested._

_Suki could have cried in relief when three quick blasts of air knocked the Dai Li off of their feet. **Aang!** Toph shot into the room with three panels of metal and swiftly restrained each agent, pinning them to the ceiling. As she freed Suki, Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot from their gags and bindings, Zuko took Ty Lee by her wrists and pinned her to the wall._

_No. Ty Lee wasn’t resisting. Something was wrong._

_Ty Lee smiled, eerily similar to Azula for a moment. "Zuko," she said sweetly, "the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."_

_Zuko froze._

_"No," Aang whispered._

_"What's going on?" Jet demanded._

_"Zuko, you are **not honored to accept** ," Toph shouted. "Zuko! Zuko, you are **not** \- "_

_"I am honored to accept his invitation," Zuko replied monotonously, and released her._

_"No, no, **no**!" Aang screamed. " **ZUKO**!"_

_Zuko turned on Aang with a ball of fire, and Aang - extinguished it?_

_"Did you just firebend?" Smellerbee demanded. " **What is going on here**?!"_

_Toph tore another metal panel from - from somewhere, Suki hadn't been looking - and lunged for Zuko, tackling him to the ground and wrapping him in it. "Conditioning," she gasped out while she bent earth around the metal to reinforce it and pin him down. "What Ty Lee said, it's a trigger phrase, it's how Long Feng kept citizens in line!"_

_"Are you kidding me?!" Jet snarled._

_Suki looked around at the mention of Ty Lee. Zuko had distracted them long enough for her to escape completely. Cursing, Suki raced out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "Ty Lee's gone!" Without waiting for backup, she took off after the shadow she saw disappearing around the corner at the end of the hall. It was no good. After a few moments, Ty Lee was long gone._

_She skidded to a halt and Smellerbee nearly ran into her. "Ty Lee?"_

_"Lost her," Suki panted. "Zuko?"_

_"He's lost his damn mind," Smellerbee snapped. Suki heard a note of fear beneath the younger girl's bitterness. "We gotta go back and help - !"_

_Too late. Behind them, Jet slammed unceremoniously into a wall, covered in ash. "Zuko, you've got to listen to me!" he roared, getting right back to his feet. "You have to fight this! We have to go take down your crazy sister!"_

_Zuko launched himself at Jet, who just barely managed to dodge. Toph slammed into Zuko from behind, shoved him into the wall, and pulled the metal from the wall around him. "You gotta help us save the Earth King!" she told him._

_"We can't do this without you," Aang put in, dashing after them and coming to a stop behind Toph. "We need you. Zuko, I know you're in there - "_

_Zuko exploded the metal around him, snatched Aang by his tunic, and hurled him full-force at Jet, sending both of them into the ground at Suki's feet._

_Toph stomped the ground and sent Zuko flying in the other direction, then rocketed towards Suki and the others with the earth propelling her. "It's no use," she said. "I can’t keep him restrained. What do we do?”_

_"Right now?" Jet grimaced at Zuko in the distance. "Run. Maybe, if we can lead him to the exit, we can just force him out with us - "_

_"It’s as good a plan as any,” Suki agreed._

_They followed Aang towards the way he, Toph, and Zuko had come in, with Toph occasionally tearing huge chunks of rock and metal out of the walls and flinging them down the hall at Zuko as he gave chase. Suki was guiltily relieved that at least one of them had the stomach to actively fight him off._

_Partway to the exit, unfortunately, a streak of blue fire cut them off, indicated Azula's arrival with Ty Lee and an overwhelming force of Dai Li. "I see Zuzu's done something right for once in his life," Azula mused. “Of course, he had to be brainwashed first, but better late than never, right?”_

_“We drove ourselves right into a trap,” Jet muttered resentfully._

_“What were we supposed to do?” Smellerbee hissed. “Leave him?”_

_“Suki, I need you to cover me,” Aang murmured to her._

_“Of course,” Suki replied, startled. “What - ?”_

_“There’s no time to explain.” In the middle of the Dai Li attacking, Aang suddenly dropped into a meditative position and earthbended a small box around himself._

_…Okay then. This still wasn’t the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her. This was fine._

_Toph, the lone bender of their group, was now occupied by Azula and the Dai Li. “Longshot, Smellerbee, back Toph up,” Jet barked. “Suki – “_

_Suki gestured helplessly at Aang._

_“Okay.” Jet nodded once. “Okay. I’ve got Zuko.”_

_As it turned out, Suki had Azula, who made it her mission to get to Aang. Suki couldn’t tell how long she fought Azula off, minutes or hours, but at some point, Toph took a second to knock Azula several feet down the hall, and Suki had a brief reprieve. At the same time, Zuko caught Jet by both his wrists and slammed him into the wall, pinning him the same way he’d pinned Ty Lee earlier._

_"What are you going to do, Zuko?" Jet challenged. "Are you going to burn me? Like your father burned you?"_

_For the first time, Zuko flinched._

_"Did your mother die for you so you could kill your family?" Jet pressed harshly._

_Zuko muttered something, his gaze growing unfocused. Suki was too far away to hear._

_"No," Jet said, firmly but not unkindly. "You know that's not true. Look at me. **We're** family. Not Azula."_

_Zuko looked at Jet for a long, long time. It was then that the earth around Aang burst open, revealing an airbender with glowing tattoos. Suki's jaw dropped. Had he entered the Avatar State voluntarily?_

_It was Suki's fault, in the end. For just a second, she had left her guard open, staring slack-jawed at the Avatar. In that second, Azula knocked her flat on her back and pointed two fingers at him, her ever-present sneer twisting into a triumphant smirk until Zuko lunged forward and, by all appearances, caught the lightning in one hand and shot it out of the other, zapping the ceiling beyond them over the Dai Li. The metal cracked, and Toph earthbended Azula onto the other side before the ceiling shifted substantially, releasing a great downpour of earth and creating a substantial barrier between them and their foes._

_Aang flickered out of the Avatar State, eyes blown wide with panic. "Zuko!"_

_"I'm fine!" Zuko asserted. "Go back!"_

_"I - I can't!"_

_"Aang, you have to!" Zuko urged him. "You have to let go!"_

_" **I can't do that**!"_

_Zuko took Aang by the shoulders. "You can. I know you can. You just did it, and you can do it again."_

_"Zuko...."_

_"No matter what happens, Aang, I need you to **let go**. Can you do that for me?"_

_"...Yes," Aang agreed, his face hardening._

_"Okay. Meditate again. It sounds like we have some time before the Dai Li reach us."_

_Aang nodded and retreated a few steps, forming his box of earth once more. Zuko turned away, facing the cave-in with a steely glint in his gaze. Suki caught him by the arm. "Blue, you promised," she said, a horrible feeling in her gut._

_Zuko nodded. "I know. I kept it. I'm here now, aren't I?"_

_"That's not good enough. I need you to stay here.”_

_“I’ll do my best, Suki,” Zuko vowed reluctantly. “For you and everyone else. But I won’t promise you more than that. Not here, not now.”_

_“Blueko, what are you planning?” Smellerbee asked warily._

_“Someone has to distract Azula while Aang enters the Avatar State.” Zuko shrugged. “Who better than her own brother?”_

_“We are not using you as bait,” Jet snarled. “Absolutely not. Next idea?”_

_“No one knows her better than I do,” Zuko insisted. “None of you could get under her skin like I could. I redirected her lightning this time because she wasn’t expecting it. Next time she’ll be prepared for it. Azula is lethal when she’s focused. Someone needs to… I need to distract her.”_

_“What if we just… escape through there?” Suki blurted out, gesturing vaguely at the ceiling. “Toph could bend the metal and the earth, and Aang could waterbend us right out of here – “_

_“You saw how quickly this happened,” Zuko cut her off. He pointed at the cave-in, from which voices steadily grew louder likely in proportion to the thinning of the barrier from the other side. “If Toph did that, we would all risk getting buried alive. The only safe way out of this is with Aang’s Avatar State.”_

_“There has to be another way,” Suki insisted._

_“I’ll be okay.” Zuko held her gaze. “I promise.”_

_“Blue – “_

_The barrier burst open. Zuko whirled around to face his sister, knocking a fireball to the side in the nick of time. “Is that the best you’ve got?” he taunted her. “Can’t hit me with fire, can’t hit me with lightning – remind me why Father keeps you around?”_

_“Some of us were loved by our parents, Zuzu,” Azula sneered, feinting to the right with a jab and slamming her ignited foot into his left side._

_“Loved?” Zuko coughed. “Favored, maybe, but not loved. Father has only ever **used** you. Even you can’t be dumb enough to think otherwise.”_

_Suki lost track of him and Azula for a few moments, still focused on protecting Aang until he reached the Avatar State. **Hurry up,** she thought helplessly. **Please, please, hurry.** The next time she took a second to look for Zuko, he and Azula were far, far away from her, beyond the exit, shouting at each other more than they were fighting – Zuko had done exactly as he’d planned to._

_“ – jealous of **your** strength? Azula, have you still not realized that you’re the weak one?”_

_“Enlighten me, Zuzu, how did you reach that conclusion?”_

_“You’re the one who gave in,” Zuko retorted. “Father hated me because I was strong enough to resist him. You weren’t. That’s the only reason he’s ever cared about you. So what will you do now, Azula? Hurt me like he hurt me? Like he hurt you and Mother? Will it make you feel better, to be exactly like him? Who’s next after me? Ty Lee?”_

_“Shut up,” Azula snarled, her composure cracking for a second._

_“Suki!” Smellerbee hissed. Suki started, eyes landing on Aang. His earth prison was gone again, and the glow of the Avatar State had returned._

_"You know Ty Lee only stays because she fears you, right?” Zuko mocked Azula, stepping closer to her. “You know she doesn’t love you?”_

_“Zuko!” Jet shouted, but Zuko only spared him an apologetic glance before continuing._

_“She’ll leave you someday, just like Mother left Father. Will you kill her then?”_

_“Jet, we have to go,” Suki insisted. **Damn you, Blue. Damn you for doing this to me a second time.**_

_“But Zuko – “_

_“Zuko never meant to come with us, Jet!” Toph cried._

_“I’m not leaving anyone behind!”_

_“You want to see me **just like father**?!” Azula shrieked at him. “Fine, then!” She jerked Zuko forward by the tunic, brought her hand to the right side of his face in a bright blue inferno – _

_“We have to leave, **now**!”_

_At Toph’s command, Suki tackled Jet as Longshot similarly tackled Smellerbee, and once the five of them were close enough to Aang, he blocked them in with a two quick motions, separating them from Zuko and their enemies with earthbending. With a third motion, he created an earth ceiling beneath the metallic one, essentially boxing himself in on a much larger scale than he had either time earlier. Then he pushed, and Suki felt the ground shift beneath her swiftly until Aang punched through the wall and revealed the shore beside Lake Laogai. They had escaped, and Zuko was still trapped with Azula, Ty Lee, and the Dai Li._

_Everyone turned slowly to Aang as his tattoos dimmed. He knelt on the ground, head bowed._

_“…Aang, we have to go,” Suki forced out. “We have to go save the Earth King.”_

_“…Zuko,” Aang uttered mournfully, distraught. He visibly gritted his teeth, and after a few heartbeats, lifted his head. “Okay,” he whispered. “And then we go back for Zuko.”_

_“And then we go back for Zuko,” Suki agreed._

_They did save the Earth King, but Ba Sing Se had already fallen, and with it, their chances of saving Zuko._

 

 

“So you’re telling me you found a way to get to Zuko,” Jet uttered incredulously, “and you’re asking me to _stay_.”

“…Yes.”

“And in what universe did you think you could possibly get me to agree to that?!”

“Aang still needs to practice his waterbending and his earthbending,” Suki said. “Which means he needs to stay with Katara and Toph. And we can’t bring the Avatar into the heart of the Fire Nation, which means we need to split up, which means only one of the two of us can go get Zuko.”

“Let’s say I agree with all of that logic,” Jet growled. “How did you decide that you should be the one going and I should be the one staying behind to babysit?”

“Because this is my fault, Jet,” Suki cried desperately. “I had so many chances to prevent this, and I blew every last one of them. This is my only chance to fix this. _Please_. Please don’t take this from me.”

“You didn’t…” Jet paused, met her gaze, and deflated. “…I can’t lose him, Suki.”

“You won’t,” Suki vowed. “I will bring Zuko back to this team, whatever it takes. I promise.”

"...Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. We've got seven chapters left. The next one is the one I've looked forward to writing the most and also one that I predicted to be one of the two shortest, so it isn't gonna take nearly as long as this one did. That being said, I still don't have a clear timeline for the rest of this fic. But I promise you I am going to finish it.
> 
> You may have noticed that this is now part of a series. This fic is the only thing I can guarantee you right now. But, if my muse persists, I do have plans for a two short sequels, about half the length of this story each, and a series of oneshots that take place before, during, and after this story, but mostly after. A few that I'm almost certainly going to write are Jet's discovery of Zuko's identity (from Jet's POV), Iroh's search for Zuko pre-story, and a one-shot about Lee set several years into the future. And of course, if you guys have any requests, hopefully I'll be able to oblige them once I've finished with this story!


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